NCT07144371: VR-SCANPASS

VR-Based Cognitive & Technical Training in Youth Football: A Randomized Trial

Completed NA Last updated 27 August 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Virtual Reality Training Group in Virtual Reality in 22 participants. Completed in 1 August 2025.

Timeline

1 March 2025

Primary endpoint
1 July 2025

1 August 2025

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Kocaeli Sağlık ve Teknoloji Üniversitesi
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	other
Enrollment	22
Start date	1 March 2025
Primary completion	1 July 2025
Estimated completion	1 August 2025
Sites	1 location across Turkey (Türkiye)

Drugs / interventions tested

• Virtual Reality Training Group
• Standard Football Training

Conditions studied

• Virtual Reality — all drugs for Virtual Reality →
• Football — all drugs for Football →
• Training Study — all drugs for Training Study →
• Cognitive Performance — all drugs for Cognitive Performance →

Sponsor

Kocaeli Sağlık ve Teknoloji Üniversitesi

Who can join

Adults 16 to 17, male only, with Virtual Reality or Football. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising tool to bridge this gap. By providing immersive, interactive, and customizable environments, VR-based interventions offer a safe and controlled platform for simulating complex game scenarios (7). From a neurophysiological perspective, VR training can stimulate the activation of key brain regions involved in perception, attention, and decision-making (8). Recent research examined the relationship between perceptual-cognitive performance in a dynamic 360° environment and soccer-specific performance in youth players (9). Their findings indicated a significant positive correlation between performance in a 360° multiple object tracking task and both passing accuracy and defensive effectiveness in small-sided games.

The repeated exposure to dynamic, visually rich stimuli enhances selective attention, working memory, and anticipatory skills, which are all critical for effective environmental scanning (10,11). Furthermore, the real-time feedback and motor engagement involved in VR-based drills promote sensorimotor integration, strengthening the neural pathways that support technical execution, such as passing accuracy and timing (12). These findings suggest that VR is not merely a visual aid but a cognitive training modality capable of eliciting measurable changes in sport-specific decision-making and technical performance (13).

However, current literature is still limited in terms of randomized controlled trials investigating the combined effects of VR on scanning and passing performance in football players. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of a VR-based training program that integrates cognitive and technical drills on scanning behavior and passing performance in youth footballers. It was hypothesized that VR-based training intervention would demonstrate significantly greater improvements in scanning frequency and passing accuracy compared to those in the control group receiving only traditional training.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Effects of virtual reality-based cognitive and technical drills on scanning and passing performance in youth football players: a randomized controlled study.
   Erişik K, Cerrah AO, Cinarli FS. · · 2025 · PMID 41444702 · DOI 10.1186/s13102-025-01425-7