dij (ioana horadron)

8/12/2019 DIJ (Ioana Horadron)

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Universidade de Coimbra

Faculdade De Ciências Do Desporto E Educaҫão Física

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Student’s name: Ioana Horadron

Student’s number: 2010173360





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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 3

Biological variability associated to the youth sports .......................................................................... 4

Growth and maturity characteristics of young athletes ..................................................................... 4

Issues in youth sports .......................................................................................................................... 4

Few example of biological variabilities in different sports ................................................................. 5

Main concerns of the coaches ............................................................................................................... 6

Quality in coaching .............................................................................................................................. 6

CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 7

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................. 8





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INTRODUCTION

Children and youth participate in competitive sport at many levels, ranging from free

play and local leagues through national and international elite competitions.The young athlete is different from his or her peers in that he or she is successful in

sport. Young athletes are usually defined by success on agency or interscholastic teams and in

age-group or select competitions for individual sports. Young athletes are thus a select group,

usually based on skill but sometimes on size and physique.

During the growning years, physical activity is an important contributing factor if

normal development of the child is to be maintained and encouraged.

Variation within and between individuals in growth, maturation, and development is

considerable. The marked changes in body composition are of specific concern, especially to

adolescent girls and to many coaches. Motor performance may be influenced by an especially

rapid growth spurt in both sexes. Relationships between peers may influence social behaviors

and in turn relationships with coaches.

The development of proficiency in a variety of movement skills is a major

developmental task of childhood and adolescence. Skillful performance is an important

component of sports. During the preschool years and extending into middle childhood,

children develop basic competence in fundamental movement patterns such as running,

jumping, skipping, and so on. These movements are the foundation for other skills and sport-

specific skills, and for physical activity in general.

One of the objectives of physical education and youth sports programs is to teach

skills. Teachers and coaches of children entering school or a sport should have anunderstanding of the development of movement patterns and knowledge of how to provide an

environment in which these patterns can be nurtured and improved. A primary responsibility

of teachers and coaches is to guide the skill development process from basic patterns to

skillful performance.





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Biological variability associated to the youth sports

Growth and maturity characteristics of young athletes

Growth refers to increase in the size of the body or its parts, including body

composition, physique, and specific systems. Biological maturation refers to the tempo andtiming of progress to the mature state. Skeletal age, sexual age, and somatic age are

commonly used indicators of maturity status.

The interrelationships between growth and maturation must be emphasized. Children

who differ in maturity status also differ in size, physique, body composition, strength, and

motor performance. The differences are especially marked just before and during the

adolescent growth spurt and sexual maturation, that is, the circumpubertal years, about 9 to 14

in girls and 11 to 16 in boys.

Physique refers to the configuration of the body as a whole. It is most often viewed in

the context of the somatotype concept, which summarizes an individual’s physique through

the varying contributions of endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy.

Physique is a selective factor in many sports (youngsters are selected in part on the

basis of their body build). Physique is also a limiting factor (certain physiques are simply not

suitable for some sports). Further, young athletes in a given sport tend to have somatotypes

similar to those of successful adult athletes in the sport.

The composition of the body is most often viewed in the context of the two-

compartment model, which partitions body mass into lean and fat components. Both

components change with normal growth and maturation. On the other hand, training can

influence body composition.

The maturity status and progress of children and adolescents are ordinarily viewed two

ways: skeletally and sexually. Maturation of the skeleton focuses on the bones of the hand and

wrist, which generally reflect the remainder of the skeleton. Sex maturation is based on the

development of the breasts and pubic hair in girls and the testes and pubic hair in boys.

It is important that teachers and coaches are aware of such variation among individuals

as well as the significance of sexual maturation for growth and behavioral development.

Sexual maturation in boys is accompanied with marked gains in muscle mass and strength,

and broadening of the shoulders relative to the hips. In girls, it is accompanied by smaller

gains in muscle mass and strength, by a widening of the hips relative to the shoulders, and by

gains in fatness. The net result is sex differences in strength, body build, and bodycomposition in late adolescence amd young adulthood.

Issues in youth sports

The experience of athletic training and competition does not have harmful effects on

the growth and maturation of the vast majority of youngsters. However, the potential for

detrimental effects on the growth, maturation, and development of children and youth exists.

Maturi ty matching

Matching children (to equalize competition, to enhance chance for success, and to

reduce injury in youth sports) is a worthwhile objective. Subsequently, during puberty,

individual differences in biological maturation must be taken into consideration, perhaps more





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so for boys than for girls. Instead of matching children for sport, sport should be matched to

the youthful participants.

Injury

Injuries to the skeleton of growning athletes always present the possibility on

permanent effects. In spite of best medical care, injuries to the growning boned of young

athletes may result in problems that do not surface until later in adult life.

Skeletal in tegri ty

Excessive training associated with altered menstrual function can compromise the

integrity of skeletal tissue leading to a loss of bone mineral and increasing the risk of stress

fractures. Disordered eating and restrictive diets are a contributory factor. Thus, a threshold

may exist for some female adolescent athletes. Regular physical activity generally has a

beneficial effect on the integrity of skeletal tissue. However, when training is excessive,

menstrual function is altered, and perhaps diets are deficient, the integrity of skeletal tissue

may be compromised.

Few example of biological variabilities in different sports

It is often assumed that regular physical activity, including training for sport, is

important to support normal growth and maturation. Some have even suggested that sport

training has a stimulatory or accelerating influence on growth and sexual maturation.

Intensive training for sport has no negative effect on growth and maturation. In

adequately nourished children and adolescents, growth in height and biological maturation are

under genetic control.

Regular training for sport, in the other hand, has the potential to favorably influence

body composition by increasing bone mineral and skeletal muscle, and decreasing fatness.

Swimming

Statures and weights of age-group swimmers of both sexes are, on average, at and

often above the reference medians. Male and female swimmers show somewhat different

trends in biological maturation. Male age-groups swimmers tend to have skeletal ages that are

concentrated in the average and advance categories with relatively few late-maturing boys. In

addition, better performers during late childhood and early adolescence tend to be advanced in

maturity status.

In contrast, female age-group swimmers tend to be average in skeletal maturation

during early adolescence.

Gymnastics

In contrast to swimmers, gymnasts of both sexes are shorter and lighter than the

reference data.

Skeletal ages of male and female gymnasts indicate no clear pattern of delay in

childhood. Subsequently, skeletal age tends to lag behind chronological age during

adolescence. It seems that, among girls, more-talented gymnasts are later in sexual maturation

than participants at the local club level.





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Main concerns of the coaches

A coach should be able to apply the general concepts of growth, maturation and

development to fit the needs of the young athletes in his/her program. There are few

suggestions for coaches in dealing with the physical, behavioral, and motor changesassociated with the transition into and during the adolescent growth spurt and sexual

maturation. These suggestions are:

Be aware of individual differences. As youth enter adolescence and during

adolescence, they need reassurance that they are normal, not different from their peers.

This need most often occurs in youngsters who are extremely early or extremely late

in maturation. The young adolescent is very sensitive to the growth and maturational

changes that are occuring, and must learn to adjust them. The adolescent needs the

support of understanding adults to transcend these changes with a positive view of

self.

Coaches should avoid comments about body weight. Adolescents are very sensitive

about their body weight and shape, especially girls, who are very sensitive to weight

changes associated with growth and maturation, and do not need to be reminded of

them.

Coaches should be careful in using body size as cut-points in sports. This especially

affects late maturing youngsters who need to be given the opportunity to participate

and to keep working at improving skills, and who need to be reassured that they will

eventually grow and mature.

Coaches should pay attention to the child’s eating behaviors and diet. A well-

balanced diet is essential to support the needs of growth and maturation, in addition tothose specific to physical activity and regular training for sport.

Coaches should be aware of expected develpmental changes and should be aware of

how develompental changes may influence performance. For example, there may be

intervals during which a skill may temporarily decline compared to the performances

prior to the growth spurt, or there may be intervals during which skills may not

improve as quickly as usually. These may be associated with rapid changes in body

proportions during the adolescent growth spurt, or changes in body composition

associated with sexual maturation. The legs, for example, experience their grow spurt

before the trunk, which temporarily alters the position of the center of gravity.Quality in coaching

During the course of a season various people make judgements of a coach. Athletes,

parents, club members, employers, sponsors, owners of the club and supporters judge the

coach based on issues as enjoyment, safety, win/loss record, and cost. The decisions people

make form the basis of a judgement as to whether a coach is a good and effective coach.

It was assumed that a good coach should be: patient, experienced, a good comunicator,

knowledgeable about skills, motivatior, a people manager, adventurous, flexible, organized,

open-minded, able to teach, punctual, wise in using the time, and to have a sense of humour.





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CONCLUSION

From a physiological and medical point of view, it should be recognized that each

child is different in his/her response and tolerance to exercise, due to a great range of

variability in growth rates, anthropometric indices, gender, and state of health, even inchildren of a similar chronological age. Younger pre-pubertal children should be encouraged

to participate in a wide variety of motor skills, whereas older post-pubertal children can

become more specialized in their training and and sport participation. A child’s performance

and adaptation to training should not be directly compared to an adult’s, as significant

differences exist, especially during the years of accelerated growth. Environmental exercise

tolerance is also more limited in children than adults.

Regular training for sport during childhood and during puberty and the adolescent

spurt does not apparently influence size-attained, growth rate, and the timing and tempo of

somatic, sexual and skeletal maturation in presumably healthy girls and boys.

Sport participation can be healthy for children, but unfortunately this is not always the

case. Adults involved in sport programs for children have a responsibility to ensure that a

child’s happy participation is not jeopardized by unrealistic adult expectations. It is imperative

that adults make the distinction between encouraging children to gain satisfaction from doing

their best and pushing children beyond their capabilities and levels of interest. Adults should

have a thorough understanding of structural and functional differences that exist between

children and adults. Sport programs for children should be designed accordingly.

It seems unarguable that coaches should see that children enjoy their sport experiences

and encourage them to return for more. This can be best achieved if coaches establish good

relationship with children, are both firm and fair, give positive feedback rather than negative,

teach skills, get to know each child individually, set challenging but reachable targets, focus

on doing as well as you can rather than winning.

By doing these things, children are encouraged to be responsible for their own

learning, gain a sense of achievement and will have fun.

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