Knowledge management practices for development - Lessons from post-earthquake Nepal. A case-study on using technology to facilitate inclusive data gathering

Responding effectively and appropriately to large scale natural disaster requires information-driven coordinated action between many different stakeholders. Evidence from one NGO engaged in reconstruction work after the 2015 Nepal earthquake sets out some of the knowledge management practice issues faced by an organization performing this work in a challenging geographical environment with low-connectivity. Key issues are identified and a data gathering tool that encourages data-driven bottom-up development practices is presented

Relations among basic psychological needs, PE-motivation and fundamental movement skills in 9–12-year-old boys and girls in Physical Education

: Many children aged 9–12 appear to have low levels of fundamental movement skills (FMS). Physical education (PE) is important because PE-teachers can teach children a variety of FMS and can influence PE-motivation. However, declined levels of PE-motivation are reported in the final grades of elementary school. Therefore, more insight in the relations between PE-motivation and FMS is needed. Purposes: In the first phase, instruments to measure the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (competence, autonomy, classmate relatedness and teacher relatedness) and PE-motivation (autonomous and controlled) in 9–12-year-old children were developed and validated. The purpose of the second phase was to examine the influence of basic psychological needs on PE-motivation, the influence of PE-motivation on locomotor skills, object control skills and balance skills, and the direct influence of basic psychological needs on FMS for boys and girls aged 9–12. Participants and data collection: In the first phase, 172 children (82 boys, 90 girls, M = 10.72 years ± 0.77) filled out questionnaires assessing the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs and motivation for PE. Forty-eight children completed the questionnaires again 4 weeks later. In the second phase, a total of 138 children (66 boys, 72 girls, 10.8 years ± .79) (three schools from phase 1 and one new school) participated. Children from the new school also completed the questionnaires and all children conducted the subtest for speed and agility, upper limb coordination and balance of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency 2. Data analysis: In phase 1, linear weighted Kappa's and the Mokken Scale Program for polychotomous items were used to test reliability and validity. In phase 2, Pearson's correlations and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to examine the relations. Findings: Regarding phase 1, all subscales were reliable and the validity was considered moderate to strong except for the autonomy subscale, which was not reliable and valid. With respect to phase 2, all basic psychological needs, except autonomy among girls, had moderate to strong correlations with autonomous PE-motivation. Teacher relatedness was the most important predictor for boys and girls, while the second predictor was classmate relatedness for boys and competence for girls. No positive significant relations between basic psychological needs and FMS and between PE-motivation and FMS were found. In contrary, moderate but negative relations between teacher relatedness and balance skills and between autonomous PE-motivation and balance skills were found for boys. Conclusions: The results confirmed the importance of the basic psychological needs in the prediction of autonomous PE-motivation in 9–12-year-old children. Although all needs should be supported by the PE-teacher, it is important to be aware of the different impact of the needs on autonomous PE-motivation for boys and girls. Despite the missing relations with FMS, PE-teachers seem to be able to autonomously motivate children for PE regardless of their FMS proficiency

Multigenerational performance development of male and female top-elite swimmers-A global study of the 100 m freestyle event

Background The present study investigated longitudinally the performance development of a multigenerational sample of competitive swimmers. The aim of the study was to provide unique insight into the junior toward senior performance development of those few who reached top-elite level. Season Best Times (SBT) of 100 m freestyle performance of international swimmers, (1.305 males, aged 12-26 and 1.841 females, aged 12-24) competing in at least five seasons between 1993 and 2018, were corrected for the prevailing world record (WR). Swim performance was defined as a relative measure: relative Season Best Time=(SBT/WR) x 100. Based on rSBT, four performance groups were defined: top-elite, elite, sub-elite, and high-competitive. Results Univariate analyses of variance showed that male top-elite swimmers outperformed high-competitive swimmers from the age of 12, sub-elite swimmers from the age of 14 and elite swimmers from the age of 18 while female top-elite swimmers outperformed high-competitive and sub-elite swimmers from the age of 12 and elite swimmers from the age of 14 (P <.05). Frequency analysis showed that male top-elite swimmers for the first time achieved top-elite level between the 17 and 24 years old (mean age of 21) while female top-elite swimmers started to perform at top-elite level between the 14 and 24 years old (mean age of 18). Conclusion Male and female top-elite swimmers are characterized by a high-performance level from 12 years on and progressively outperform swimmers from similar age. However, this goes together with a large variety in the individual pathways toward top-elite level within and between sexes

Student-athletes’ need for competence, effort, and attributions of success and failure:Differences between sport and school

Our purpose was to show that highly skilled student-athletes (n1⁄4146, 41.1% female, mean age 14.1years) differ across domains with regard to their need for competence, effort, and attributions. As hypothesized, the results show that relative to the school domain, in the sport domain, student-athletes had a stronger need for competence, a higher willingness to exert effort, and a stronger tendency to ascribe positive outcomes to personal effort, regardless of sex and sport. For professional practice, our findings imply that effective psychological interventions such as attributional retraining should vary across domains, particularly in case of explaining positive outcomes

The importance of reflection and evaluation processes in daily training sessions for progression toward elite level swimming performance

Self-regulated learning (SRL) involves self-directed metacognitive subprocesses and motivational beliefs that facilitate more effective and efficient learning. We investigated whether youth swimmers who are on track to becoming elite swimmers apply SRL subprocesses more frequently in their daily training sessions compared with swimmers who are not on this track. Insights into swimmers' use of training-centered SRL could advance understanding about underlying individual characteristics that contribute to optimal engagement in daily training and, consequently, progression toward elite level swimming performance. We collected data on training-centered SRL subprocesses (evaluation, planning, reflection, speaking up, effort and self-efficacy) and performance data for 157 youth swimmers aged 12-21 years (73 males and 84 females). The results of a multivariate analysis of covariance revealed significantly higher scores for reflection processes during training for high-performing swimmers but lower scores for effort compared with lower-performing swimmers (p < 0.05). A closer examination of the high-performing group showed that those demonstrating greater improvement during a season scored significantly higher for evaluation processes after training compared with those evidencing less improvement during a season (p < 0.05). Significant between-group differences in SRL subprocesses remained after adjusting for differences in weekly training hours. Youth swimmers on track to becoming elite swimmers are characterized by more frequent use of reflection processes during training and evaluation processes after training, which suggests that these swimmers' learning and training processes are more effective and efficient. Ultimately, this could contribute to a higher quality of daily training, which may result in greater improvements during a season, higher performance levels, and a greater chance of reaching the level of elite swimming performance

The value of technical characteristics for future performance in youth tennis players:A prospective study

The aim of this study is to examine whether technical characteristics predict current and future tennis performance of youth tennis players. Twenty-nine male youth tennis players (age 13.40 ± .51) were assessed on anthropometrical characteristics (height, weight, maturity status) and technical characteristics (ball speed, accuracy and percentage errors) using an on-court tennis test when they were under-14 (U14). Game situations were simulated, which were either fixed or variable. The variable game situations required players to consider the direction of the ball, as opposed to the fixed game situations where players needed to play every ball to the same side. Players' tennis ratings were obtained U14 ('current performance') and under-18 (U18) ('future performance'). According to their rating U18 players were classified as future elite (n = 9) or future competitive (n = 20). A multiple linear regression analysis showed that ball speed and accuracy were significant predictors of current and future performance (p < .001), with R2 of .595 and .463, respectively. When controlling for age, a one-way MANCOVA revealed that future elite players were more accurate than future competitive players (p = .048, 95% CI [.000 to .489]), especially in variable compared to fixed game situations (p < .05). In conclusion, the current study is the first to show that technical characteristics are crucial for current as well as future performance in youth male tennis players. Findings of this prospective study provide essential information to coaches about characteristics that require most attention in performance development in youth players

Acquisition and maintenance of excellence:the challenges faced by Dutch top-level gymnasts throughout different stages of athletic development

The purpose of the present study is to identify the within-career challenges top-level gymnasts experience during the initiation, development and mastery stage of athletic development in training sessions, competition, and in daily life. In-depth interviews are used to explore the perceived challenges of 16 talented and elite gymnasts (M = 16.5 years, SD = 4.6 years). Participants are divided into three groups, according to the stage of their athletic development. Several challenges are perceived in all stages of athletic development (e.g. learning new elements, dealing with stress under pressure, dealing with distractions and managing their dual career). As the number of different challenges increases as the gymnasts reach the mastery stage, challenges seem to become more personal and specific than in previous stages. The study shows obvious differences in the nature of the perceived challenges for different stages of athletic development, which provides useful insights for those who work with talented and elite athletes

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

Interim Performance Progression (IPP) During Consecutive Season Best Performances of Talented Swimmers

Objective: The main goal of the present study was to investigate the interim performance progression (IPP) of talented swimmers. Part of this group ultimately made it to the top (referred to as elite swimmers) whereas others did not make it to the top (referred to as high-competitive swimmers). Rather than investigating performance progression based solely on season best performances, we included the first swim performance of the season in the metrics of IPP. Knowledge about the IPP of talented swimmers from and toward their season best performances relative to the first swim performance of the season will enhance our understanding of changes in season best performances during the talent trajectory and provide valuable insights for talent development and selection processes in competitive swimming. Methods: Fifteen thousand nine hundred and forty four swim performances (first swim performances of the season and season best performances) between 1993 and 2019 of 3,199 talented swimmers (of whom 556 reached elite level and 2,643 reached high-competitive level) were collected from Swimrankings and related to the prevailing world record of the corresponding sex. The pattern of IPP was represented by two phases: phase A and phase B. Phase A reflected the performance progression between the previous season best performance and the first swim performance of the current season (PPA) and phase B reflected the performance progression between the first swim performance of the current season and the season best performance of the current season (PPB). Depending on the normality check, we used independent sample t-tests or Mann Whitney tests to establish significant differences in PPA and PPB between elite and high competitive swimmers per age category per sex (p &lt; 0.05). Results: Without denying individual differences, male elite swimmers improved more during phase B from age 15 till 24 compared to high-competitive swimmers (20.5% vs. 13.1%, respectively, p &lt; 0.05). Female elite swimmers improved more during phase B from age 13 till 23 compared to high-competitive swimmers (21.1% vs. 14.6%, respectively, p &lt; 0.05). Except for age 14 in males, there were no significant differences between performance groups in PPA. Conclusion: Talented swimmers who ultimately made it to the top (elite swimmers) are characterized with different patterns of IPP compared to talented swimmers who did not make it to the top (high-competitive swimmers). After puberty, elite and high-competitive swimmers performed in general ~1% slower at the start of their season compared to their previous season best performance (PPA). However, elite swimmers improved more in the period between their first swim performance of the season and their season best performance (PPB) from age 13 (females) and age 15 (males) onwards.</p

Self-assessed tactical skills in tennis players:Psychometric evaluation of the Tactical Skills Questionnaire in Tennis

To our knowledge, no feasible, valid and reliable instrument exists to examine tactical skills over the course of multiple training and game situations in tennis yet. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Tactical Skills Questionnaire in Tennis (TSQT). The TSQT is a new instrument with closed-ended questions designed to examine tactical skills in tennis players. Participants were 233 competitive tennis players (age: 17.06 ± 4.74 years) competing on national or regional levels. With a principal component analysis (PCA) we identified four theoretically meaningful subscales for the 31-item TSQT: “Anticipation and positioning,” “Game intelligence and adaptability,” “Decision-making,” and “Recognizing game situations” and confirmed them with a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (χ2 = 527.02, df = 426, p 0.05). Relative test-retest reliability was moderate with ICC values ranging from 0.65 to 0.71. National players outperformed regional players on the subscales “Game intelligence and adaptability,” “Decision-making,” and “Recognizing game situations” (p < 0.05), and there was a trend toward significance for “Anticipation and positioning” (p = 0.07). This study supported the psychometric properties of the TSQT. Evaluating tactical skills with the TSQT provides players, coaches and other professionals with insight in players' self-assessed tactical skills over the course of multiple training and game situations. It creates the opportunity for players to reflect on their skills and detect personal development areas with their coach. We advise to use this information as input for tailor-made training programs