Table 1. Characteristics of the elite and sub-elite youth soccer players (mean ± SD).

	Elite youth soccer players (n = 47)	Sub-elite youth soccer players (n = 41)	p-value
Age (years)	15.5 (0.9)	15.2 (1.2)	0.142
Training (h / week)	10.7 (1.0)	2.9 (1.1)	<0.001
Matches (h / week)	1.0 (0.0)	1.0 (0.2)	0.287
Soccer experience (years)	9.8 (0.8)	9.3 (1.5)	0.035
Academic level
Pre-university (n [%])	36 (76.6)	17 (41.5)	0.001
Pre-vocational (n [%])	11 (23.4)	24 (58.5)

Note: The national average of students at pre-university academic level is 57.9% and at pre-vocational academic level is 42.1% in the Netherlands [32].