Eight months of school-based soccer improves physical fitness and reduces aggression in high-school children

Nebojša Trajković; Dejan M Madić; Zoran Milanović; Draženka Mačak; Johnny Padulo; Peter Krustrup; Karim Chamari

doi:10.5114/biolsport.2020.94240

Eight months of school-based soccer improves physical fitness and reduces aggression in high-school children

Biol Sport. 2020 Jun;37(2):185-193. doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2020.94240. Epub 2020 Mar 31.

Authors

Nebojša Trajković¹, Dejan M Madić¹, Zoran Milanović², Draženka Mačak¹, Johnny Padulo³, Peter Krustrup^{4

5

6}, Karim Chamari⁷

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
² Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš, Serbia.
³ Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
⁴ Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, SDU Sport and Health Sciences Cluster (SHSC), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
⁵ Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK.
⁶ Department of Sports Science, Shanghai University of Sport, China.
⁷ Athlete Health and Performance Research Centre, Aspetar, Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar.

Abstract

School-based programmes have shown promising results in the reduction of aggressive behaviour, but the effectiveness of physical activity modalities among adolescents remains to be determined. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a school-based soccer programme on physical fitness and aggression in adolescent students. One hundred and five high school students were randomized to a small-sided soccer training group (SG) or a control group (CG). In addition to the regular physical education classes performed as part of a curriculum, the SG completed eight months of small-sided soccer training twice a week after school. Aerobic fitness (YYIR1), vertical jump (VJ), backward overhead medicine ball throw (BOMBT), and Buss and Perry's aggression questionnaire were evaluated before and after eight months of training. Greater improvements were observed in the SG than in the CG in the BOMBT (%diff=4.3, ŋp ²=.308) and YYIR1 tests (%diff=2.2, ŋp ²=.159), and physical aggression subscale (%diff=-12.1, ŋp ²=.144). Extra, school-based recreational soccer for adolescents was accompanied by a significant improvement in physical fitness, compared to physical education classes only. Moreover, the implementation of recreational soccer into regular physical education classes seems to be a potentially appropriate stimulus for reducing aggression in high-school students.

Keywords: Adolescents; Small-sided games; Soccer; Team sports; Training and testing.