This thesis aimed to develop an intervention to improve the life skills of British adolescent competitive sport participants, who are in full time education. Study one investigated the life skills needs of adolescent competitive sport participants and provided a participant-centred definition of life skills. The problem exists that it is unclear which life skills are needed by adolescent competitive sport participants and which life skills should be included in life skills programmes. As such, existing programmes may not reflect the needs of adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the life skills needs of competitive adolescent sports participants from the perspective of youth sport participants, coaches, and experts in sport psychology and youth sport. Eighteen adolescent sports participants, fourteen coaches, and four experts in sport psychology and youth sport participated in a series of focus group interviews. An inductive analysis revealed how participants defined life skills and which life skills adolescent sports participants need. Life skills were defined as ranges of transferable skills needed for everyday life by everybody, that help people thrive above and beyond the normal requirements of everyday existence. Participants described the need for interpersonal skills including social skills, respect, leadership, family interactions, and communication. Personal skills including organisation, discipline, self-reliance, goal setting, managing performance outcomes, motivation, and identity were also reported. Participants described communication skills and organisation as the most important life skills for British adolescent competitive sport participants to acquire. Study two presents an in-depth, idiographic study illustrating how life skills were learnt through the experience of sport. The aim of the current study was to investigate how life skills could be learnt and improved through experiences in sport. (Continues...).

Background: A high injury-incidence in the world of youth team sports requires athletes, teams and healthcare to invest big amounts of money and time. There is a need to find implementable time- and cost-effective strategies that can highlight youth athletes at increased risk of sustaining injuries, to inform the physiotherapist’s/coach’s training plan for training load adjustments. Aim: The primary aim of this report is to investigate whether the rebound jump test (RJ) can be used to detect neuromuscular fatigue, to try minimize the risk of sustaining injuries in youth team sports. The secondary aim is to investigate how the reactive strength index (RSI) in the RJ correlate with the drop jump test (DJ), to try establish concurrent validity of the RJ. Method: In total, 46 male youth soccer players (17,1 ± 1,2 years old) were recruited. RJ were performed in a non-fatigued state and in a fatigued state after a hard football session, whilst the DJ was performed in a non-fatigued state only. Results: RSI-RJ was strongly correlated with the RSI-DJ (r=0,83, r²= 0,69, p<0,01) and there was a significant -12 % difference between RSI-fresh and RJ-fatigue in the RJ (p<0,01). Conclusion: RJ is a valid test to measure neuromuscular fatigue and could inform the physiotherapist/coach about each athletes’ readiness to train on a weekly basis.

The purpose of this study was to identify the motivational factors that are important for continued ice hockey practice after children have participated in Tre Kronors Hockey School. Furthermore, the purpose was also to investigate the young people's experience of Tre Kronor Hockey School and how they perceived the transition from the same to association hockey. The study was carried out on behalf of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Data has been collected through eight semi-structured interviews with young people between the age of 12-13 years old who previously participated in the Tre Kronors Hockey School and then continued to play association hockey. A key result was that the respondents felt that community and fellowship with teammates was somehow an important motivational factor for continued ice hockey practice. Another important motivational factor was to develop and learn new things, and that it was considered important with support from people close to them. All young people felt that Tre Kronors Hockey School was a fun gateway to start playing ice hockey and that the transition to association hockey was a major change that all respondents thought was motivating. Finally, our study shows that the Swedish Ice Hockey Association has met the purpose of Tre Kronor Hockey School as a playful and fun gateway to start playing ice hockey.

Title: Interest in Athletics and other activities for children aged 12 - 15 years. Objectives: To determine interest in athletics and other activities for children aged 12 to 15 years and to compare the responses of children from selected elementary schools and grammar schools. Methods: A questionnaire survey was used to meet the objectives. Questionnaires were distributed to two schools - Elementary School (ZS Jilovska) and Grammar School (Gymnázium Omska), of which neither one focuses on sports. Age group was between 12 to 15 years of age. Total of 359 questionnaires was collected. The main objective of the research was to determine the interest in sports and athletics beyond school physical education classes. In this study we investigated the activities in which children and young people engage in their leisure time; who motivates and supports them in sports, and how they relate to athletics. Results: The results showed that children and youth, despite the availability of today's modern techniques, are still interested in sports. Of the total number of 359 respondents, 23% of children chose sports as one of the leisure activities. They enjoy doing sport activities in their spare time as much as activities done with friends or playing games on the computer. 91% of children are involved in certain...

Title: Policy of sport talented youth promotion in the Czech Republic and republic of Austria Objectives: Main goal of this thesis is focused on comparison between Czech and Austrian policy of talented youth in sport. To find out the biggest differences between these two systems and due to this findings try to suggest recommendation to one or the other country. Methods: Comparative analysis based on the collected secondary data. Results: Both systems are different in all areas that I compared. There are some slight differences as some bigger once. Diverse organization of sport, funding of sport but the main difference was found within the school system in a matter of support to students in their sport career as at the same time educationally. Key words: Sport, talented youth in sport, sport legislation, organization of sport, funding of sport, youth Olympics.

Introduction: Physical inactivity is thought to contribute to the emergence of non-communicable diseases in post-conflict settings of low-income countries. Sport-for-development (SfD) organisations in these regions claim to improve the health of programme participants. However, there is a paucity of supporting evidence. I assessed the impact of a voluntary community-based SfD intervention on the physical activity (PA), physical fitness (PF) and mental health (MH) of adolescents in Gulu, Uganda. Methods: The Acholi Psychosocial Assessment Instrument (APAI), standing broad jump (SBJ), multi-stage fitness test (MSFT) and BMI-for-age (BFA) were adapted to the local context. I tested their feasibility and reliability with a repeat-measures design (n=70). A cross-sectional analysis of a random sample was used to assess the local needs and establish the PF and MH of the adolescents reached by the intervention (n=1464). This was also the baseline assessment for the impact evaluation. It comprised a randomised control trial (n=144) nested within a cohort study (n=1400) and triangulated by cross-sectional assessment of PA using accelerometry (n=54). Results: The adapted PF and MH measures demonstrated good intra-tester reliability (ICC>0.75). Adolescents in Gulu predominantly had “healthy” BFA (>90%). They performed better than global norms for the SBJ (p<0.001), but worse for the MSFT (p<0.05). The girls who registered for the intervention had higher PF at baseline (p<0.05) and experienced no significant benefits when compared to the community. The aerobic capacity of the boys intervention group increased relative to the community (p<0.01), but was not significantly different to the trial control group whose PF also improved. The PA results concurred with this finding. Boys in the intervention group experienced a deterioration in MH relative to their peers (p<0.05). Implications: It is feasible to apply rigorous evaluation methods to SfD interventions. Although adolescents in Gulu have poor aerobic capacity, a voluntary programme may not reach those at risk. Interpreting the impact evaluation was limited by a lack of programme development theory, but suggested that opportunities for non-competitive play may confer PF benefit without harming MH. Further investigation is warranted.