Relationship between involvement in school sport practice and the perception of the quality of school sport

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate if training experience in school sport is correlated with the perception of quality of competition in school sport. A random sample of 722 boys and 595 girls was used from a total of 5129 participants (25.7%) from elementary and secondary schools from Madeira Autonomous Region, Portugal. A questionnaire was used to identify variables related to the participation in competition in school sport of the participants and the quality of school sport, organised in a five-level Likert scale. The findings show us that training time per week of students in school sport wasn't correlated with their satisfaction in school sport competition. However, the experience in school sport training was a variable correlated with satisfaction of school sport competition. The more experienced pupils tended to be more critical in what concerns number of teams, regular competitions and punctuality of participants. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Headnote

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate if training experience in school sport is correlated with the perception of quality of competition in school sport. A random sample of 722 boys and 595 girls was used from a total of 5129 participants (25.7%) from elementary and secondary schools from Madeira Autonomous Region, Portugal. A questionnaire was used to identify variables related to the participation in competition in school sport of the participants and the quality of school sport, organised in a five-level Likert scale. The findings show us that training time per week of students in school sport wasn't correlated with their satisfaction in school sport competition. However, the experience in school sport training was a variable correlated with satisfaction of school sport competition. The more experienced pupils tended to be more critical in what concerns number of teams, regular competitions and punctuality of participants.

Key Words: - school sport, competition, practice experience

Introduction

In a school context physical education and sports classes contains unique features (e.g. strenuous performance, competition, adherence to the rules of games, intensity of the game, cooperation, systematic training etc.) that are not inherent to other school subjects or leisure activities. In fact, school sport offers a field of experiences for adolescents that are beneficial for their development like: self-efficacy in sports, experience of competency, emotional acknowledgement, fair-play spirit, character building (Fejgin, 1994; Hanson and Kraus, 1998; Marsh, 1992); social support (Fejgin & Hanegby, 2001) and cooperation, personal responsibility and empathy (Burt, 1998; Hellison et al, 2000; team work, personal and social development in the form of student responsibility, cooperation and trust skills (Siedentop, 2002).

In this paper school sport refers to extra-curricular sport modalities, constituted by training and competition between school teams. These activities are organized by physical education teachers in a school environment during the free time of the pupils and involve many students in training sessions and interscholastic competition. Not many studies have investigated school sports. Most studies investigated the only the quality of physical education classes. Huts, De Knop and Teeboom (2005) found in a study about quality in physical education at schools in Flanders that more than half of the respondents stressed that their expectations concerning physical education hardly ever were met. It was concluded that social quality of Flemish school physical education at that time only partly was successful. The main reasons for this dissatisfaction seem to be organizational constraints (lack of qualified and motivated staffand infrastructural limitations). Chow, McKenzie and Louie (2008) showed that teacher behavior and the lesson characteristics (subject matter and mode of delivery) were significantly associated with the physical activity levels of students. The findings suggest that teachers interested in promoting physical activity during class time should focus specifically on selecting appropriate content. They concluded that teachers, who devoted more time to skill practice, got a more active involvement of students and better scores on their performances.

Smith, Thurston, Green and Lamb (2007) confirmed the findings that reported levels and forms of participation of young people in different sports and physical activities in school sports varied significantly and differentially according to gender and, to some extent, social class and involvement of participants. According to these authors the kind of sports and physical activities a school provides appears to be a critical factor in understanding school-level differences in participation. In this regard, it seems that becoming a "Specialist Sports College is prominent among a number of developments which may result in a diversification of extracurricular PE opportunities" (Smith, Thurston, Green & Lamb, 2007).

To our knowledge no studies are performed about the service quality of school sports, which can be of main importance for the contribution of the development of lifelong healthy habits. Griggs and Wheeler (2007) stated that physical education and school sport may be a factor that leads today's teenagers to become adults with healthy sportive habits. Young people who emerge from their school years feeling confident about their physical skills and bodies and who have positive experiences of physical education and school sport are more likely to be active throughout adulthood (Harro & Riddoch, 2000). Hastie and Sharpe (1999) who studied the effect of a sports education curriculum on teenage boys concluded that the exposure to the curriculum model produced increased student positive peer interactions, as well as accurate self-monitoring by students of their social interactions. In essence, these are the claims made for the social benefits of physical education and school sport center on developing young people's abilities to interact positively with others that can, as a consequence, result in wider gains for themselves, their schools and communities (Bailey et. al, 2008).

In regard to school sport, there are several dimensions of service quality of training and competition. Firstly, it is necessary to consider the regularity and frequency of training and competition, as well as the effects of the experience on a satisfaction of young participants. No study has investigated the influence of attendance and quality of school sport. However, research on the effects of sports education model of Siedentop (2002) seems to recommend that school sports should give priority to regular competition and experience of youth in leadership roles and organization of sport activities (Wallhead, & O'sullivan 2005). Therefore the aim of this study was to determine if there is coherence between the satisfaction concerning quality of school sport of the participant and attendance of school sport in competition. Furthermore, to verify if the training experience and weekly training time influences the perception of quality of competition in school sport. It is expected that pupils who have more experience of training and more practice time per week, would have a deeper understanding and a more critical view about the organization and the quality of competition in school sports.

Material & methods

Participants

In Madeira, during the 2006/2007 school year 5129 pupils from 32 schools at the 2nd and 3rd stages of elementary and secondary education (from 10 to 18 years old) were engaged in school sport activities (SSCO, 2006). The method of random and stratified sample (by group/team) was used to choose the target group, with a margin for error under 5%, having attained a representative sample of 1317 participants from all schools and sports modalities involved in school sport, which corresponds to 25.7% of the population of pupils (Hill & Hill, 2005).

Boys represent 54.8% of the sample, which is 722 individuals, and the other 45.2% are 595 girls. The participants were fully informed about the protocol before participating in this study. Informed consent was obtained prior to all testing from the participants and their parents, in accordance with the recommendations and approval of local ethical committee and current ethical standards in sports and exercise research.

Questionnaire and Procedure

The questionnaire was designed using as a basis the school sport activities programme and its regulation, which was determined by regional school sports coordinating office. Three experienced teachers with specific knowledge about school sport contributed to its validation, being two of them coordinator teachers who were familiar with the information and specific activities of the school sport programme, while the third one owned vast professional experience in the fields of sports coordination at school and research applied to sports and service quality. The questionnaire was also tested on a group of 30 participants similar to the ones belonging to the whole sample, in order to ensure the clarity and objectivity of the questions. Cronbach's Alpha measure was used to test the reliability of the measuring instrument, which proved the existence of good internal consistency (0.86) for the set of variables to be analysed.

Physical education teachers who were responsible for training of the participants, as well as the school sport coordinator from each school contributed to the questionnaire administration. A preparatory meeting was held between the research team and the teachers in charge of the participants, so that administration procedures and questionnaire and answering were made clear. The administration was processed during part of the school sport-training schedule and the method of random stratification was used per training group. Anonymity of participants and schools was ascertained.

The questionnaire included two types of questions. To know the frequency and timing of the training of participants we used closed and direct questions. To identify the level of satisfaction of the participants we used a five-point Likert scale.

In what concerns the assessment of the quality of competition in school sport we considered these features: quality organization of the games; frequency of games or competitions; interest of the training and competition; coordination / preparation of training for the competition; quality of referee; respect for the rules game; attendance of participants; punctuality of the participants; participants involvement and responsibility; scores in the competitions; number of teams in competition; schedules of training and competitions; commitment of teachers; attendance and of teachers and attendance to the training of colleagues.

Statistical analysis

Inferential analysis and data treatment were carried out using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software. Since the variables under analysis were nominal and ordinal type, we have chosen to use nonparametric tests. To verify the statistical relationship between the variables and groups, we used the Chisquare test of independence (X2) and the Mann-Whitney test for an error probability of 0.05.

Athletes participating in school sports were divided into two groups according to the following criteria: experience as an athlete in school sport (more than two years of practice versus equal to or less than two) and practice time per week (more than two hours per week versus less than two).

Results

Most participants (45%) trained between ninety minutes to two hours per week in school sport regarding the frequency of training, while 21 % trained only up to one hour a week (figure 1).

The majority of the participants only competed one to four times per year/season (49%), 32% competed five to nine times, while also 8% did not compete at all (figure 2).

When we asked the participants how satisfied they were with the quality of training of school sports, they showed very high levels of satisfaction. Whatever the level of weekly hours of training, the participants showed a positive satisfaction level of 87% (satisfied=51% and very satisfied=37%). The homogeneity of the general satisfaction level was also confirmed by the Chi-square test of independence, since no statistically significant differences were found in the satisfaction level for participants with different number of training hours (p=0.72; table 1).

When compared the satisfaction level of participants with different years of experience in school sport, a significant effect of practice time was found (p=0.034) in the level very satisfied. In general, less experienced participants in sports school (less than two years of practice) showed a higher level of satisfaction, compared with more experienced participants (table 2).

About comparing the perceptions, evaluated in eleven features of school sports competition of the participants conducting school sports for less than two years with the perceptions of those who have an experience of more than two years, showed that nine features were significantly different (Table 3). Only the features "interest of the competition" (p=.1) and the "scores in competition" (p =.58) were not statistically significantly different between the two groups of participants. In general, Participants who have two or fewer years of experience are more satisfied with the features of competition than the more experienced participants (table3). The quality organization of the competition, the number of games or competitions between the teams and the schedules of competitions were the features, which have noted major differences between two groups (p<0.001). Participants with more years experience and involvement in training of school sports showed a more critical (dissatisfaction) in what concerns the reduced number of competitions (p=0.001), to the reduced number of teams in competitions (p=0.005) and punctuality of the participants (p=0.003; table 3).

When the weekly training time of the practitioners was analyzed to verify if those who trained more than two hours had the same perception of the features of competition than practitioners who trained under two hours, no clear difference in the perception of the quality of competition was found. Only the feature "number of games or competitions" was significant different scored between the two groups (p = 0.004), i.e. the group that trains less than two hours per week showed a higher level of satisfaction (table 4).

Discussion

The aim of this study was to determine if there is coherence between the satisfaction concerning quality of school sport of the pupils and attendance of school sport in competition. Furthermore to verify if training experience in school sport influences this perception of quality of competition. The main findings were that pupils with less years of experience indicated higher levels of satisfaction than pupils with more years of experience in school sport. However, time spending on school sport training did not influence perception of the pupils on the quality of competition in school sport.

Athletes with less experience in school sports have a higher level of satisfaction regarding the characteristics of the competition, compared with more experienced athletes. In general, the results indicated that the experience of practitioners is a variable that influences the perception of the quality of school sports competition. However, only the "number of competition and teams in competition" and "punctuality of the participants in the game" were the features of competition that received more critical scores (table 3). Athletes with more years experience were more dissatisfied with the limited number of competitions in school sports. As practice experience increases, the athletes want more competition and more commitment from the participants. The data collected concerning participation in competition revealed that the participation rate is below the expectations (figure 2), bearing in mind the objectives of the school sports programme as far as regularity of activities is concerned.

Another result that may deserve some attention is the fact that 113 athletes (8.6%) had never competed. Since practically all groups/teams are organised and aim at participating in school championships and tournaments, which reasons are there to explain this result? It appears that the period of data collection (last three April weeks and first week of May 2007) does not constitute a valid explanation to such a short number of competitions.

Another result that needs to be reconsidered is the fact that lunchtime (from 12:00 to 14:00) is when most training sessions are held. These results may be explained by the following reasons: timetable incompatibility between athletes and teachers, more available facilities during lunchtime as well as the fact that many schools still work using a two-shifts system (morning and afternoon).

These results imply a clear contradiction between athletes' regular attendance to training and their satisfaction level. How can boys and girls manifest high satisfaction levels towards all variables of training and competition, when most of them do not train or compete on a regular basis?

In this sense, the results seem to suggest that the competition of school sports for young people should be more regular, co-responsible, intensive and participative. It is expected that athletes with more practical experience, show a level of knowledge and critical higher than those who train for less time. Another reason that may explain the contradictory results is the possibility of students does not want a commitment to more regular and intensive training and competitions of school sports. Probably, many young people of school sport can train once or twice a week, and other days of the week, practice another sport activity in the federated sector. In this sector, the features of competition are different: the young people want more competition and commitment of the participants. The weekly training time does not seem to influence participants' perception of the quality of practice, as there are no statistically significant differences between two groups. Supposedly, young people who train more often, and so display higher attendance rates, should have deeper critical knowledge of quality of competition. The perceptions of the consumers/participants have about the quality of service depending on their experience. People with greater experience and knowledge of the service tend to be more critical (Crompton, J. & Mackay, 1989; ÒNeill, & Palmer, 2003).

One reason that may explain these results is that the practices and competitions are not taken with regularity and intensity. The number of competition for young people along the school year is not very favourable to the development of their abilities, as the result that stands out is 1 to 4 times (49.4%), followed by 5 to 9 times, with a 31.8% rate.

If training and competition aim to modify social and educational behaviours of young people through sports practice in a school context, like research in this field shows (Burt, 1998; Barber, Eccles, & Stone, 2001; Crosnoe, 2001; Guest & Schneider, 2003; Hellison et al, 2000), then it will become necessary to adapt training schedules and ensure higher attendance levels for participants so that they are able to compete. Siedentop (1994) showed as the basic features of his sport education model the necessity that training and competition has to be consistent and participative to provide the change of social interactions, the affiliation of the member with the team and the relation to competition. Likewise, a deeper commitment of youth in training and competition may be achieved through a greater accountability of more experienced young people in coaching and performance of training tasks in units of school sport, as studies by Hastie (1996) suggest. According to that research, we expected that the results of our study highlight the importance of experience and knowledge of the participants about the activities and service.

If school sport is not characterised by regular and intensive practice, as well as high standards of quality and sociability, hardly will it succeed in achieving its sports and educational goals. The small number of competition along the school year (between one and four, for a half of all participants) displays one of the negative aspects of the school sports organisation.

Mowling, Brock, and Hastie (2006) advocate that in a sport education model there are participation requirements: "all students are to be actively engaged in a range of roles associated with sport education all the time. Secondly, sport education features developmentally appropriate involvement, in which games and equipment are modified to meet the experiences and abilities of the students". Also Siedentop (1998) and MacPhail, Kirk and Kinchin (2004) indicates in sport education activities, the use of persisting groups (teams) is essential to ensure team affiliation and quality in behavioural interpretation. In our study the findings indicated that the athlete's involvement and participant's commitment in school sport training and competition were not positive scores. Some contradictions in the results can be explained by the fact that the athletes surveyed do not have a strong participation, systematic and intensity activity in training and competition.

If the leaders of the organization and service provider intend to reach higher levels of quality of school sport (Robinson, 2006), then it will be necessary to rethink the features of training and competition, so that they will be coherent and involve a more active participation of young people in training and competition. The educational and social benefits that can be provided by school sport will only prove effective if practice becomes intensive, team work is developed and competition is structured and regular (Hastie,1996; Hastie & Sharpe, 1999; Siedentop, 2002).

Conclusions

Pupils with less years of experience in school sport indicated higher levels of satisfaction than athletes with more years of experience. In general, we concluded that the experience of practitioners is a variable which influences the perception of the quality of school sports competition. However, only the "number of competition and teams in competition" and "punctuality of the participants in the game" were the features of competition that received more critical scores. The time spending on school sport training did not influence perception of the pupils on the quality of competition in school sport. The study concludes a contradiction between regularity and attendance to sports training and competition by pupils, which was very weak, and their level of satisfaction concerning the service quality, which was very high. The findings suggest that the competition of school sports for young people should be more regular, intensive and participative.

Conflicts of interest

This study was conducted without any funding from companies or manufacturers or outside organizations.

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