Methods of the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study

The Michigan State University Motor Performance Study (MPS) was initiated in 1967 and lasted 32 years. Three central components existed: 1) Educational component, in which students experienced applied work with youth; 2) Instructional component, whereby enrolled youth received sport-specific skill instruction; and 3) Research component. The primary goals of the research component of the MPS were to examine: 1) the changes over time that occur in the physical growth, biological maturity, and motor skill acquisition of children and youth; 2) the processes involved in the attainment of basic and complex motor skills; and 3) the influence of changes in the learners’ environment on their rates of motor skill acquisition. Several growth and maturation, motor competence, and physical performance/fitness variables were collected, and a follow-up study examined participants’ adult physical activity, sport participation, and health outcomes. This manuscript describes methods used in the research component of the MPS and the follow-up

An Examination of Sport Participation Tracking and Adult Physical Activity for Participants of the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study

Research tracking sport participation from youth to adulthood is relatively rare, as is research that tracks youth sport participation with regard to adult physical activity (PA) levels, especially in the United States. Aims of this study were: 1) To investigate the degree to which sport participation tracked across youth, adolescence, and early adulthood in a sample of participants from the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study (MPS), and 2) Determine if differences existed in their levels of adult PA relative to prior sport participation. In total, 256 (60.8%) former participants from the MPS completed follow-up surveys regarding routine sport participation and PA across the previous year. Sport participation tracked consistently from youth to college. Further, regardless of the level of youth sport participation, adult leisure time PA was relatively consistent among groups. Although the study did not directly test the influence of the MPS on subsequent adult outcomes, our findings suggest that participants’ past sport participation was not a good predictor of adult PA for those who were involved in a program that emphasized fundamental motor skills in youth. Further investigation of such programs can help to better inform their influence on adult PA

Sports-based intervention and the problem of youth offending: a diverse enough tool for a diverse society?

This paper discusses sports-based interventions (SBIs) and the problem of youth crime. It notes the positive role sport can play in changing to better the lives of young people. However, there is a lack of robust evidence to support the argument that participation in sporting activity can lead to a reduction in anti-social and offending behaviour. The paper discusses how through focusing on ‘individual needs’ and ‘pathways to work’, SBIs can become overly reductionist and mask broader structural class-, gender- and race-based inequalities that permeate through neoliberal nation-states and western criminal justice systems. It concludes that SBI advocates must seek to promote a less homogeneous idea of what an SBI is, as well as be more sensitive to the diverse needs of young people, particularly if they are to tackle the underlying structural inequalities that arguably create the social problem, that is youth crime in the first place