Physical education:A gold mine for the development of future successful athletes?

Children> 10 years old with the capacity to become successful in sport are, according to teachers in physical education (PE), regardless of the type of sport, characterized in particular by their work attitude and sport learning capacity . This argues in favor of offering children sport-wide programs at an early age in which development is central. Our research at a professional football organization shows that the current system in sport is, however, characterized by selection. As a result, at young ages many children are excluded and their potential is not used. In the first developmental phase, children need to improve their fundamental movement skills. Children who develop these skills well are more physically active and more likely to have sport success. By merging two motor skills tests, we have developed a test that measures the full spectrum of fundamental movement skills. A valid and reliable test that can be applied in an applied setting makes it possible to respond more to the individual capabilities of each child. We have shown that if children are given goal-directed instruction, goal-directed exercises and goal-directed individual learning, they significantly improve within a limited time (4x8 minutes of practice) their skills. The degree to which children improve differs: especially those 7-year-old children who score low on sports learning capacity develop their fundamental movement skills significantly less in of 28 weeks. If, instead of selection, the development of working attitude and sporting learning ability are central, we could well tap into a goldmine of future elite players

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

Similarities and differences between sports subserving systematic talent transfer and development : the case of paddle sports

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate similarities and differences for 18 sports toward canoe/kayak in order to identify donorsport and/or multisports, based upon a systematic analysis of the task constraints per sport that are assumed to be either crucial or less important from the coaches' viewpoint. Design: Descriptive survey analysis. Methods: 891 certified coaches from 19 sports valued (0-10; not important at all-very important) 15 characteristics by a questionnaire (Flemish Sports Compass) within their sport. Unique sport-profiles (discriminant analysis - DA) were constructed for 19 sports based on these characteristics. Similarities and differences between canoe/kayak and the other 18 sports were analyzed by means of MANOVAs on anthropometric, physical and motor coordination characteristics. Results: Cross validated DA (rcan = 0.660, Wilks' Lambda = 0.564, p < 0.001) showed that 72.1% of the canoe/kayak coaches were correctly assigned to their sport. For canoe/kayak seven characteristics were valued crucial; dynamic balance (8.51 1.69), core stability (8.45 2.27), pulling power (8.12 +/- 1.68), speed (7.54 +/- 2.07), endurance (7.27 +/- 2.03), stature (6.43 +/- 1.41) and rhythm (6.01 +/- 3.01). Least important characteristics were: flexibility (6.16 +/- 1.75), agility (4.27 +/- 3.10), catching (3.90 +/- 3.22), climbing (2.45 +/- 3.05), jumping (1.81 +/- 2.11), throwing (1.60 +/- 2.24), hitting (.94 +/- 1.77) and kicking (.61 +/- 1.04). Conclusions: This novel approach to determine important characteristics per sport makes identifying similarities and differences between sports possible. Similarities might enlarge talent-pools for possible talent transfers. Differences can help identify sports based on complementary characteristics for the construction of broad motor development programs. From this viewpoint gymnastics can serve as potential donorsport (similarities) for canoe/kayak, while handball and tennis can subserve broad development for young canoe/kayak athletes. (C) 2020 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

Primary School Pupils:Unequal GMC Developmental Pathways in a Single School Year

Gross motor coordination (GMC) is essential for the development of specific motor skills and long-term participation in physical activities and sports. Group analysis reveals that, on average, children develop these skills gradually; however, how individuals develop GMC is less clear. The main aim of this study is to increase the understanding of developmental patterns within one school year, and whether children’s grade, gender, or baseline GMC proficiency are associated with these developmental patterns. In total, 2594 Dutch children aged 6–12 years performed the modified Körper Koordinations Test für Kinder (KTK3+) twice in one school year (autumn and spring). The KTK3+ includes four subtests: walking backwards, moving sideways, jumping sideways, and eye-hand coordination (EHC) test. On average, children developed significantly on all subtests (p < 0.001). At baseline, children in higher grades scored significantly higher than children in lower grades, and children in grades 5 and 6 (age 9 and 10 years) showed most development (raw scores on average, p < 0.001). Boys outperformed girls on EHC across all grades, whereas girls outperformed boys on walking backwards. Nevertheless, both boys and girls developed similarly. Children with lower scores at baseline developed more quickly across all grades. Noteworthy is that 12.1–24% (depending on the test item) of the children scored lower in the spring than in the autumn tests. On average, children develop their GMC; however, we report large differences in their individual trajectories and note that a substantial number did not show a positive GMC development. Further research should examine GMC development with more possible influencing factors as well as over a longer time span to better understand differences in children’s GMC development. This may result in more individualized programs in PE lessons, enabling children to optimally develop their GMC, and better use of GMC assessment tools to monitor children’s development

Scale of identification of talent in physical education (EITEF): transcultural validation to the spanish context

Actualmente, la aplicación de los términos identificación, detección y desarrollo del talento en Educación Física (EF) sigue siendo controvertida. Pese a que en los últimos años están surgiendo instrumentos de identificación del talento en las clases de EF, ninguno de ellos ha sido elaborado para el contexto español. Así, con el propósito de ofrecer a los docentes de EF un nuevo recurso educativo, el objetivo principal de este trabajo ha sido validar transculturalmente el instrumento de identificación denominado Scale for Identification of Sport Potential al contexto español. Un total de 9 maestros y 2 profesores de Educación Física participaron en la validación transcultural de la escala. De los 11 participantes, 7 poseían el grado de doctor. La media de años de experiencia fue de 8,5 años. El resultado del estudio mostró un instrumento innovador para los docentes en EF, denominado EITEF en su acrónimo, cuyo propósito es ayudar a los procesos de identificación del talento en sus clases. En total, la escala cuenta con 25 items distribuidos en las siguientes áreas evaluadas: capacidad de aprendizaje deportivo, capacidad de actitud de trabajo, capacidad interpersonal, capacidad intelectual, capacidad creativa y capacidad motriz. En definitiva, la EITEF se presenta como otro recurso más, en contexto español, del que el profesorado de Educación Física puede hacer uso en el desarrollo de sus clases. Futuros estudios deberán analizar si la EITEF, validada transculturalmente en contexto español, cumple la misma estructura factorial que la escala original.Currently, the application of the terms identification, detection and development of talent in Physical Education (PE) remains controversial. Although some instruments for identifying motor talent have been appearing for PE classes, there is a scarcity in the Spanish context. Thus, to offer PE teachers a new educational resource, the main objective of this work has been to validate cross-culturally the instrument entitled Scale for Identification of Sport Potential to the Spanish context. A total of 9 Primary Education teachers and 2 Secondary Education teachers participated in the study. Of the 11 participants, a total of 7 had a doctoral degree. The mean years of experience of the participants was 8.5 years. The result of the study showed an original instrument for Physical Education teachers entitled EITEF. In total, it has 25 items distributed in the following evaluated areas: sports learning capacity, work attitude capacity, interpersonal capacity, intellectual capacity, creative capacity, and motor capacity. In short, the EITEF is presented as another resource in the Spanish context that Physical Education teachers could use of in the development of their classes. Future studies should analyze whether the EITEF, cross-culturally val idated in the Spanish context, complies with the same factorial structure as the original scale

An early start at a professional soccer academy is no prerequisite for world cup soccer participation

Introduction829 players from 32 nations on five continents participated in the 2022 men's World Cup tournament in Qatar. Not much is known about the youth careers of World Cup players from all over the world, especially about the age at which they began playing youth soccer in a professional academy. This study aimed to provide insights in the age national team players participating in World Cup Qatar 2022 started playing for a professional soccer academy and whether their starting age relates to continent and their current playing position (i.e., goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and forwards).MethodSystematic online desk research was conducted to determine the age at which World Cup players started playing for professional youth soccer organizations. The median and interquartile ranges were expressed for the starting age in professional youth soccer organizations and the current age at the World Cup. The variables were compared with playing position, the continent of the player's World Cup nation, and the continent on which the player was raised.ResultsThe results reveal that World Cup Qatar 2022 players started playing for professional soccer academies at a median age of 13.2 years (range: 4.2–22.6). In Europe, players started playing for professional youth soccer organizations earlier than players on other continents [χ2 (4) = 142.0, p &lt; 0.001]. We also found a younger starting age in forwards than goalkeepers (p &lt; 0.05).DiscussionIn most established soccer nations in Europe and South-America, World Cup players started playing for professional soccer academies before the age of 12. However, a significant number of players started later, especially players on other continents, which reveals the different pathways youth players can follow to the elites

Teachers' perceptions of children's sport learning capacity predicts their fundamental movement skill proficiency

The intrapersonal mechanism that drives and explains individual differences in motor development is still a relatively underexplored area of research. In this study, we set out to determine whether in teachers' perceptions, higher sport-learning capacity (SLC) is associated with the level of fundamental movement skills, and the changes therein over 24 weeks in 7-year-olds. We assessed 170 children from eight primary schools in the Netherlands twice (T1, T2) in 24 weeks, using a tool to assess their FMS in applied settings (Platvoet, Elferink-Gemser, & Visscher, 2018). The schools' eight PE teachers used a digital questionnaire to score their perceptions of children's SLC (Platvoet, Elferink-Gemser, Baker, & Visscher, 2015). Based on their SLC, each child was then placed in the low (n = 33), average (n = 107), or high SLC-group (n = 30). We used a MANOVA to examine group differences, with the four subtests as dependent variables. The results revealed that regardless of SLC-group, children improved their FMS over 24 weeks (F(4,163) = 10.22, p .05). In sum, we found an association between children's SLC and level of FMS and changes therein; this was especially pronounced in children with a lower SLC, who had a lower proficiency and improved less on the subtest moving sideways

Factors Related to Adolescents&rsquo; Participation in Organized Sports

Participation in organized sports has important health benefits in adolescence, yet participation rates are concerning. A better understanding of factors influencing adolescents&rsquo; participation in organized sports offers opportunities to improve participation rates. The aim of this study was to examine to what extent motives, perceived competence, encouragement and motor skills were associated with participation in organized sports in a sample of first-year secondary school students. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 386 Dutch adolescents (11&ndash;14 years) in October and November 2020. A series of multilevel logistic regression models estimated the likelihood of adolescents&rsquo; participating in organized sports. First, we examined whether motives, perceived competence, encouragement and motor skills were independently associated with the likelihood of participation. Second, we examined whether these factors were concurrently associated with the likelihood of participation. When considered individually, motives, perceived competence, encouragement and motor skills were significantly associated with participation. When considered together, only motives were significantly associated with participation and the associations of all other factors with sport disappeared. These findings show the importance of motivation for participation in sports over other factors. These findings inform the development of interventions aimed at improving adolescents&rsquo; participation rates

Agreement Between the KTK3+ Test and the Athletic Skills Track for Classifying the Fundamental Movement Skills Proficiency of 6- to 12-Year-Old Children

The main aim of this study was to determine the agreement in classification between the modified KörperKoordinations Test für Kinder (KTK3+) and the Athletic Skills Track (AST) for measuring fundamental movement skill levels (FMS) in 6- to 12-year old children. 3,107 Dutch children (of which 1,625 are girls) between 6 and 12 years of age (9.1 ± 1.8 years) were tested with the KTK3+ and the AST. The KTK3+ consists of three items from the KTK and the Faber hand-eye coordination test. Raw scores from each subtest were transformed into percentile scores based on all the data of each grade. The AST is an obstacle course consisting of 5 (grades 3 till 5, 6–9 years) or 7 (grades 6 till 8, 9–12 years) concatenated FMS that should be performed as quickly as possible. The outcome measure is the time needed to complete the track. A significant bivariate Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.51 was found between the percentile sum score of the KTK3+ and the time to complete the AST, indicating that both tests measure a similar construct to some extent. Based on their scores, children were classified into one of five categories: 95%. Cross tabs revealed an agreement of 58.8% with a Kappa value of 0.15 between both tests. Less than 1% of the children were classified more than two categories higher or lower. The moderate correlation between the KTK3+ and the AST and the low classification agreement into five categories of FMS stress the importance to further investigate the test choice and the measurement properties (i.e., validity and reliability) of both tools. PE teachers needs to be aware of the context in which the test will be conducted, know which construct of motor competence they want to measure and know what the purpose of testing is (e.g., screening or monitoring). Based on these considerations, the most appropriate assessment tool can be chosen

Four Weeks of Goal-Directed Learning in Primary Physical Education Classes

Relatively little is known about how practice relates to children's improvement in gross motor skill performance. The aim of this study is to determine to what extent 6- and 7-year-old children improve their gross motor skill performance in a four-week period, in which goal-directed learning is stimulated and to determine whether differences between boys and girls occur. Groups of 6 year olds (n = 167) and 7 year olds (n = 140) practiced their gross motor skill for four weeks. Physical education teachers stimulated goal-directed learning by their instruction, skill-specific exercises, and individual practice. The week before and after, gross motor skill performance was assessed, using the Korper Koordinations Test fur Kinder, and compared with a control group (n = 131). Both 6 and 7 year olds in the intervention group improved their gross motor skill performance significantly more than the control group. The results show the relevance of goal-directed learning for the improvement of gross motor skill performance