Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The aim of this study was to determine the effects of participation in a single sport small-sided games (SSG) programme compared to a multi-sport SSG programme on the physical fitness, gross motor coordination, soccer skills and application of tactics during soccer games of grade four children from a disadvantaged community. Two intact classes of boys and girls (n= 39 and n=40) participated in a six-week, 2x per week intervention programme. One class specialized in soccer and the other engaged in a diversified programme where they sampled hockey and team handball along with soccer. In terms of pedagogy, both classes followed a deliberate play model with its focus on intrinsic learning and non-intervention by a coach. Data were collected during pre-, post- and retention test periods. Both boys’ groups achieved significant improvements in their muscle endurance-push-ups, power and aerobic endurance on the retention test. Only the boys who participated in the multi-sport SSG programme achieved a significant improvement on their muscle endurance-sit-ups. The girls from both groups showed significant improvements in all physical fitness variables, with the exception of the girls in the muti-sport programme who did not achieve a significant improvement in their speed. Significant improvements were experienced by all groups for gross motor coordination and soccer skills. The boys in the soccer SSG programme demonstrated improvements in both offensive and defensive tactics while the boys in the multi-sport SSG programme improved in the application of their defensive tactics only. The girls who participated in the soccer SSG programme also improved in their defensive tactics while the girls who participated in the multi-sport SSG programme achieved improvements in their application of both offensive and defensive tactics. The results of this study support proponents of the Developmental Model of Sport Participation as presented in current sport pedagogy literature, who claim that the physical and tactical benefits pre-pubescent children derive from participation in a diversified games programme will be similar to those benefits derived from participation in a specialized sport-specific game programme, providing the sports involved are late specialization sports. These results support the conclusion that it is not necessary for pre-pubescent children to specialize in a late specialization sport such as soccer in order to progress in their ability to play soccer. They can make similar progress if they participate in a diversified games programme that provides them with a broader experience with sports that have similar physical and tactical requirements.

Denna uppsats lägger sitt fokus på de som oftast står idrottaren närmast, föräldrarna. Att vara idrottsförälder idag är inte bara tidskrävande och kräver en hel del ekonomiska resurser, det finns även en press på dagens föräldrar att passa in, att följa normen och att välja rätt vägar för sitt barn. Syftet med denna studie är att utforska idrottsföräldrars upplevelser och erfarenheter om engagemang och involvering i barn- och ungdomsidrott och viktiga frågeställningar var bland annat om det kan bli för mycket av det goda engagemanget och om detta i sin tur sätter press på barnet. En kvalitativ metod i form av fokusgruppsintervjuer användes. Denna uppsats tar stöd i Cotés teoretiska modell om hur man går från deliberate play till deliberate practice, för att bibehålla motivationen till ett livslångt idrottande. Genom att barnet får prova på flera idrotter, ökar sannolikheten att intresset för idrott finns kvar även i framtiden och barnet får även tillhöra den gemenskap som inte enbart ökar den sociala kompetensen hos barnet, men även håller barnet borta från skärmtid och andra oönskade aktiviteter.Studien visar att föräldrar värderar barnens idrottande högt. Idrottandet och medlemskapet i en förening ses som en investering i barnets mående, såväl psykiskt som fysiskt, men idrottsföreningarna fungerar även som en socialisationsmiljö. Det stora engagemang i form av tid och de pengar som föräldrarna lägger på barnens idrottsintresse, upplever föräldrarna att de får valuta för i barnens glädje. Idrottandet har blivit en norm och för studiens föräldrar var det otänkbart att deras barn skulle sluta med all idrott. Föräldrarna vill inte känna att de pressar sina barn och upplever det som en fin linje mellan att vara stöttande och pressande. Föräldrar upplever det svårt att veta var gränsen går då det finns så mycket att välja mellan i och med den kommersialiserade idrotten. Även barnen kan uppleva att de inte kan sluta med sin idrott för att föräldrarna varit så engagerade och barnen vill inte göra dem besvikna. / This essay focuses on those who are most often closest to the athlete, the parents. Being a sports parent today is not only time consuming and requires a lot of financial resources, there is also a pressure on today's parents to fit in, to follow the norm and to choose the right paths for their child. The purpose of this study is to explore sports parents' experiences and experiences of commitment and involvement in children's and youth sports and important questions were, among other things, whether there can be too much of the good commitment and whether this in turn puts pressure on the child. A qualitative method in the form of focus group interviews was used. This essay is supported by Coté's theoretical model of how to go from deliberate play to deliberate practice, in order to maintain the motivation for lifelong sports. By allowing the child to try different sports, the probability increases that the interest in sports remains in the future and the child also belongs to the community that not only increases the child's social skills, but also keeps the child away from screen time and other unwanted activities.The study shows that parents value their children's sports highly. Sports and membership in an association are seen as an investment in the child's state, both mentally and physically, but the sports associations also function as a socialization environment. The great commitment in the form of time and the money that the parents spend on the children's interest in sports, the parents feel that they get value for in the children's joy. Sports have become a norm and for the parents of the study, it was unthinkable that their children would stop all sports. Parents do not want to feel that they are pressuring their children and experience it as a fine line between being supportive and pressing. Parents find it difficult to know where the line goes as there is so much to choose from with commercialized sports. Even the children may feel that they cannot quit their sport because the parents have been so involved and the children do not want to disappoint them.

Les skieurs et les skieuses de bosses constituent une communauté d’athlètes talentueux et exceptionnels au sein de la population sportive canadienne : ceux-ci ont remporté quatre médailles aux Jeux olympiques de Sotchi (2014) et leur absence du podium est atypique sur le circuit de la Coupe du monde. Comment ces skieurs et ces skieuses de bosses ont-ils développé une expertise leur permettant d’être parmi les meilleurs, sinon les meilleurs, au monde ? L’atteinte d’un niveau expert est attribuable à la conduite de pratiques délibérées dirigées par un professeur et visant à améliorer des habiletés critiques à la performance (Ericsson, Krampe et Tesch-Römer, 1993). Ces pratiques ont lieu en dehors des cours institutionnels (entraînements avec l’équipe de sport) (Ericsson et al., 1993). Le développement du talent (et de l’expertise) en sport résulterait d’une accumulation de pratiques délibérées et de jeux délibérés menés au cours de 10 années ou 10 000 heures (Memmert, Baker et Bertsch, 2010). Le jeu délibéré est un engagement précoce dans une activité physique intrinsèquement motivante qui procure une gratification immédiate ainsi qu’une expérience de plaisir (Côté et Hay, 2002). En ayant lieu à l’extérieur de l’institution sportive, ces pratiques et ces jeux sont invisibles au public, suggérant que d’autres formes d’activités existent. Dès lors, cette thèse investigue l’ensemble des situations d’apprentissage menées en dehors des équipes de ski de bosses par des skieurs/skieuses expert(e)s et prometteur(e)s canadiens/canadiennes. Cette thèse appliquée approfondit la contribution de ces situations d’apprentissage au développement de l’expertise et du talent au moyen du concept d’Activité privée, un outil conceptuel qui regroupe l’ensemble de ces situations. Notre méthodologie qualitative, rétrospective et ethnographique traduit le point de vue et l’expérience de ces skieurs et de ces skieuses provenant de la culture sportive spécifique (Darbon, 2002) du ski de bosses au Québec et au Canada. La première partie de la thèse met en évidence une variété de catégories d’activités privées qui apparaissent, disparaissent ou se maintiennent au cours du développement sportif. Ces activités privées correspondent non seulement à des pratiques et des jeux identifiés dans la littérature sur le développement de l’expertise et du talent (Côté, Erickson et Abernethy, 2013; Ericsson et al., 1993), mais également à des jeux contribuant au développement cognitif et moteur (Piaget, 1945). Les skieurs évoquent aussi des formes d’activités privées "Autres". La deuxième partie de la thèse montre que le choix et la mise en place des activités privées dépendent de la disponibilité des ressources environnementales (artefacts) et sociales, mais également du contexte spatio-temporel. La mise en place et le déroulement des activités privées sont subordonnés aux processus proximaux (Bronfenbrenner, 1977), c’est-à-dire aux étayages (Bruner, 1983a) de l’entourage (entraîneurs, parents, fratrie et coéquipiers) et aux moyens d’autorégulation (Zimmerman, 2000) de celles-ci. La troisième partie de la thèse démontre que le choix de l’activité privée à mener découle d’un désir (Ross, 1995), orienté vers une fin-en-vue (Dewey, 1938), et d’une valorisation pragmatique. Outre ces constats, le choix, la mise en place et le déroulement des activités privées sont orientés par une sensibilité à (Récopé, Rix-Lièvre, Kellin et Boyer, 2014) et un modèle de performance idéale propre à chaque skieur. La quatrième partie expose les bénéfices retirés des activités privées. Ces bénéfices retirés permettent au skieur de posséder des habiletés critiques (habiletés techniques, physiques, stratégiques, mentales, esthétiques, proprioceptives et visant la performance globale) lui permettant ainsi d’offrir une performance experte et talentueuse en compétition de ski de bosses. [...] / Canadian mogul skiers are a community of talented and exceptional athletes in the Canadian sporting community: they won four medals at the Sochi Olympics (2014) and their absence from the podium is atypical on the world Cup circuit. How did these mogul skiers develop an expertise which classified them among the best, if not the best, in the world? Expert people conduct deliberate practice aimed at improving performance-critical skills and these deliberate practices are supervised by an expert teacher (Ericsson, Krampe and Tesch-Römer, 1993. These practices take place outside of the sport institution (sports team’s training program) (Ericsson et al., 1993). The development of talent (and expertise) in sport would result from an accumulation of deliberate practices and deliberate play conducted over 10 years or 10,000 hours (Memmert, Baker and Bertsch, 2010). Deliberate play is an early commitment to intrinsically motivating physical activity that provides immediate gratification and enjoyment (Côté and Hay, 2002). By taking place outside the sports institution, these practices and plays are invisible to the public, suggesting that other forms of activity exist. Therefore, this thesis investigates all learning situations conducted outside of the mogul teams by experienced and promising Canadian male and female skiers. This applied thesis study in depth the contribution of these learning situations to the development of expertise and talent through the concept of Private Activity, a conceptual tool that includes all possible learning situations. Our qualitative, retrospective and ethnographic methodology reflects the point of view and the experience of these skiers coming from the specific sports culture (Darbon, 2002) of mogul skiing in Quebec and Canada. The first part of the thesis highlights a variety of categories of private activities that appear, disappear or is maintain in the course of the skier’s sport development. These private activities not only correspond to practices and plays identified in the literature on the development of expertise and talent (Côté, Erickson and Abernethy, 2013, Ericsson et al., 1993), but also to plays contributing to cognitive and motor development (Piaget, 1945). Skiers also evoke private activities we identified as "Others". The second part of the thesis shows that the choice and the implementation of private activities depend on the availability of environmental (artefacts) and social resources, but also on the spatial-temporal context. The implementation and conduct of private activities are subordinated to the proximal processes (Bronfenbrenner, 1977), that is to say the entourage’s scaffolding (Bruner, 1983a) (coaches, parents, siblings and teammates) and to the self-regulation (Zimmerman, 2000) means. The third part of the thesis demonstrates that the choice of the private activity to be carried out arises from a desire (Ross, 1995), directed towards a end-in-view (Dewey, 1938), and a pragmatic valorization. In addition to these findings, the choice, implementation and conduct of private activities are oriented by a sensibility to (Récopé, Rix-Lièvre, Kellin and Boyer, 2014) and an ideal performance model specific to each skier. The fourth part describes the benefits derived from the private activities. These benefits allow the skier to acquired critical skills (technical, physical, strategic, mental, aesthetic, proprioceptive, and overall performance skills) allowing him to achieve expert and talented performance in mogul skiing competition. A modeling of the concept of Private Activity to study the development of expertise in sport is proposed at the end of the four parts of the thesis. To conclude, the non identical trajectory [...]