Performance characteristics of selected/deselected under 11 players from a professional youth football academy

This study aimed to determine whether players selected for the under 11 team of a professional youth football academy outperform their deselected peers in physical, technical and gross motor coordination skills, or in psycho-social capacities. Of the young players active at different amateur clubs yearly 2% were scouted to participate at trainings and matches from an academy before the first objective baseline testing (season 1 n = 54 boys, season 2 n = 49, age: 9.25 +/- 0.46). Most of the scouted players (n = 103) were born in the first quarter of the year (47.6%) and started playing football at a young age (4.80 +/- 0.84). Mann-Whitney U tests showed that the selected under 11 players (n = 31) from the reduced pool outperformed their deselected peers (n = 72) in the 30-m slalom sprint, dribble test and Loughborough soccer passing test, and on sport learning-, motor-, creative- and interpersonal capacity (P <0.05). A discriminant analysis resulted in a significant discriminant function (Wilks' ? = 0.673, df = 16 and P = 0.002) with 69.6% of players classified correctly. In sum, the current system, tends to scout 9-year old soccer players with multiple years of soccer experience, and well-developed motor skills, who are predominantly born in the first quarter of the year. Of those players, the ones with better physical and technical skills, who are believed to have most potential to become elite in the future are selected. However, 25 of the players with a high probability of being selected were deselected. Whether this system is appropriate serves a broader ethical discussion within contemporary society

Personal and social development in physical education and sports : a review study

This review provides an overview of the existing literature on school-aged children's and youth's (i.e. 6- to 18-year-olds) personal and social development within the context of physical education and sports. A total of 4359 non-duplicate articles were retrieved from six databases. After the title, abstract and full text screening, 88 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included for further analysis. Articles had to be published in a peer-reviewed journal between 1 January 2008 and 6 December 2017. The 88 studies used several study designs, methods and instruments to investigate a variety of concepts related to personal and social development. Concepts were grouped into the following 11 themes: work ethic; control and management; goal-setting; decision-making; problem-solving; responsibility; leadership; cooperation; meeting people and making friends; communication; and prosocial behaviour. The main findings for each of the 11 themes are reported, and limitations and implications are provided to guide researchers and practitioners in their future work

Anthropometric Characteristics, Physical Fitness and Motor Coordination of 9 to 11 Year Old Children Participating in a Wide Range of Sports

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate to what extent 9 to 11 year old children participating in a specific sport already exhibit a specific anthropometric, physical fitness and motor coordination profile, in line with the requirements of that particular sport. In addition, the profiles in children with a different training volume were compared and possible differences in training hours per week between children from a low, moderate, and high level of physical fitness and motor coordination were investigated.Methods and resultsData of 620 children, 347 boys and 273 girls, who participated in the Flemish Sports Compass were used. Only the primary sport of each child was considered and six groups of sports (Ball sports, Dance, Gymnastics, Martial arts, Racquet sports and Swimming) were formed based on common characteristics. Measurements consisted of 17 tests. Independent T-tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests revealed few differences between the groups of sports and the discriminant analyses with the moderate and low active group did not show any significant results (p > .05). However, when discriminating among the high active children, a 85.2 % correct classification between six groups of sports was found (Wilks' Λ = .137 and p DiscussionThe study showed that in general, children at a young age do not exhibit sport-specific characteristics, except in children with a high training volume. It is possible that on the one hand, children have not spent enough time yet in their sport to develop sport-specific qualities. On the other hand, it could be possible that they do not take individual qualities into account when choosing a sport

Physical education teachers’ perceptions and operationalisations of personal and social development goals in primary education

Personal and social development constitutes an important goal of physical education (PE) curricula worldwide. Few studies have analysed how PE teachers perceive and operationalise personal and social development goals in their lessons. This study sought to investigate the implemented curriculum of in-service PE teachers, that is, how PE teachers perceive and operationalise personal and social development goals. In sum, 12 experienced primary school PE teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. Deductive-inductive content analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings are discussed under three themes. The first theme, goal versus means, relates to personal and social development as a goal in itself or as a means to achieve other goals. This duality is discussed in relation with how teachers organise their lessons, the tasks and activities they provide, and how they divide children into groups. The second theme, the teacher's role versus children's role, relates to the struggle PE teachers face with delegating responsibilities to children. Under the third theme, (lack of) curriculum line, we discuss the structure or curriculum line that is missing in the pursuit of personal and social development goals. Future research and practice should devote time and effort to training PE teachers to realise personal and social development goals in a more structured and systematic way

Physical education teachers’ perceptions and operationalisations of personal and social development goals in primary education

Personal and social development constitutes an important goal of physical education (PE) curricula worldwide. Few studies have analysed how PE teachers perceive and operationalise personal and social development goals in their lessons. This study sought to investigate the implemented curriculum of in-service PE teachers, that is, how PE teachers perceive and operationalise personal and social development goals. In sum, 12 experienced primary school PE teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. Deductive-inductive content analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings are discussed under three themes. The first theme, goal versus means, relates to personal and social development as a goal in itself or as a means to achieve other goals. This duality is discussed in relation with how teachers organise their lessons, the tasks and activities they provide, and how they divide children into groups. The second theme, the teacher's role versus children's role, relates to the struggle PE teachers face with delegating responsibilities to children. Under the third theme, (lack of) curriculum line, we discuss the structure or curriculum line that is missing in the pursuit of personal and social development goals. Future research and practice should devote time and effort to training PE teachers to realise personal and social development goals in a more structured and systematic way

Physical education teachers’ perceptions and operationalisations of personal and social development goals in primary education

Personal and social development constitutes an important goal of physical education (PE) curricula worldwide. Few studies have analysed how PE teachers perceive and operationalise personal and social development goals in their lessons. This study sought to investigate the implemented curriculum of in-service PE teachers, that is, how PE teachers perceive and operationalise personal and social development goals. In sum, 12 experienced primary school PE teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. Deductive-inductive content analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings are discussed under three themes. The first theme, goal versus means, relates to personal and social development as a goal in itself or as a means to achieve other goals. This duality is discussed in relation with how teachers organise their lessons, the tasks and activities they provide, and how they divide children into groups. The second theme, the teacher's role versus children's role, relates to the struggle PE teachers face with delegating responsibilities to children. Under the third theme, (lack of) curriculum line, we discuss the structure or curriculum line that is missing in the pursuit of personal and social development goals. Future research and practice should devote time and effort to training PE teachers to realise personal and social development goals in a more structured and systematic way

Discriminating between 81 children participating 5 hours or more per week in their sport.

<p>Functions at Group Centroids: Ball sports Function 1 = 0.305; Ball sports Function 2 = -0.506; Dance Function 1 = -0.389; Dance Function 2 = -0.114; Gymnastics Function 1 = 0.176: Gymnastics Function 2 = 1.773; Racquet sports Function 1 = -1.285; Racquet sports Function 2 = 0.418; Swimming Function 1 = -4.954; Swimming Function 2 = -0.344. Ball sports = ○; Dance = ◆; Gymnastics = +; Racquet sports = Δ; Swimming = ×.</p

Discriminating between 252 children participating between 1 and 5 hours per week in their sport.

<p>Functions at Group Centroids: Ball sports Function 1 = 0.016; Ball sports Function 2 = 0.126; Dance Function 1 = -0.348; Dance Function 2 = 0.250; Gymnastics Function 1 = -0.177: Gymnastics Function 2 = 0.646: Martial arts Function 1 = -0.136; Martial arts Function 2 = -0.615; Racquet sports Function 1 = -0.457; Racquet sports Function 2 = -0.393; Swimming Function 1 = 1.170; Swimming Function 2 = -0.082. Ball sports = ○; Dance = ◆; Gymnastics = +; Martial arts = ☐; Racquet sports = Δ; Swimming = ×.</p

Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) for the motor coordination variables.

<p>Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) for the motor coordination variables.</p

Scatterplot of physical fitness (PQ) and motor coordination (MQ).

<p>A. Total sample, B. Children performing best, C. Children performing above average, D. Children performing under average. Best performers = ○ (PQ and MQ > 0.5); Above average performers = ☐ (PQ and MQ > 0 & PQ or MQ < 0.5); Under average performers = Δ (PQ and/or MQ < 0).</p