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Youth in sport programs are not only gaining skills in sport techniques but also observing and learning ethical attitudes such as how to treat others in competition or whether to play in accordance with sport rules. Youth sport coaches influence youth directly through the provision of guidance and feedback and indirectly through the behaviors they model and attitudes they reflect. In the sport context, gamesmanship is any in-game misconducts that stay within the boundaries of the rules but still are ethically controversial and may lead to a competitive advantage. In this study, the gamesmanship beliefs of youth sport coaches across multiple sport disciplines were analyzed. The participants of this study were 109youth sport coaches of a variety of sports. A 20-question gamesmanship beliefs survey was used in data collection for this study in which youth sport coaches were asked to determine their opinion of the identified conduct and respond with a rating on a 4-point Likert scale. Responses of youth sport coaches in this study suggest that only a small portion of them are inclined to instruct players to act in a way that utilizes gamesmanship practices. This study's examination of whether formal coaching training or years of coaching experience influence attitudes toward gamesmanship found that there appeared to be little effect on coaches' attitudes. As gamesmanship situations are typically present in the youth sport context, this study provides value in understanding how youth sport coaches think about gamesmanship and their awareness of ethical concerns., Involvement in organized sports is a common activity for many youth between ages 6 and 18. In fact, participation in sport activity typically exceeds involvement in any other type of [...]

Daily physical activity (PA) benefits children's and adolescents' overall health while reducing the likelihood of obesity. Elementary school physical education (PE) classes provide opportunities for children and adolescents not only to participate in PA but also to build the knowledge and skills needed to be physically active across their lifetime. Physical Best (PB) is one program physical educators might use to develop students' physical literacy and skills. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of PB program inclusion on elementary PE students' PA levels and health-related fitness knowledge (HRFK). Three activity games were paired once with a PB fitness concept-based warm-up activity and once with a traditional warm-up activity for six lessons. PA levels of elementary school students (n = 75, 30 males, 45 females) were recorded with both movement tracking bracelets and heart monitors during these six PE lessons. Means were calculated for movements and time in and above target heart rate zone (TZ) by warm-up type (PB vs. traditional), sex, and grade level. An HRFK assessment given to students pre- and postintervention assessed changes in fitness knowledge. Repeated-measures analysis of variances were utilized in the comparison of sex and grade level differences in relation to movements, TZ minutes, and HRFK assessment scores. Overall, children had significantly more movements in the PB lessons compared with traditional lessons (p < .05), while there was no difference in TZ minutes. HRFK assessment scores increased from pre- to postintervention (p < .05). Children accrued more movements in PB warm-up lessons than in traditional warm-up lessons but exhibited no difference in PA intensity. Children also increased HRFK from pre- to post-PB experience., Approximately 13.7 million children and adolescents are affected by obesity in America (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2018b). Obesity among children is clinically defined as greater than 90th [...]

A small portion of American children, adolescents, and adults are affected by attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a chronic mental condition that includes a variety of symptoms. The brain activity of individuals with ADHD is abnormal in its characteristics of neurotransmitter activity during tasks that require attention. Symptoms are often treated with medication that stimulates attention levels. For individuals diagnosed with ADHD, these pharmaceutical interventions are often paired with structured social and behavioral support as well as dietary modifications for further remediation of symptoms. In addition, physical activity (PA) interventions present additional nonpharmaceutical opportunities that reduce ADHD symptoms. This article presents an extensive literature review assessing the notion that neuroactivation and attentional performance of children and adolescents with ADHD can be optimized with interventions of PA. Overall, research has suggested that PA interventions that are free of cost and do not rely on health care professionals can be easily adapted into a daily schedule for individuals with ADHD and effectively prepare individuals for bouts of attentional effort., Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects children, adolescents, and adults and includes a variety of symptoms. ADHD symptoms often include some combination of inactivity, hyperactivity, and [...]

The Project Fit America (PFA) curriculum was initiated in 1990 with a mission to create and provide quality opportunities for American school children to be active, healthy, and fit. This study assessed the effect of the PFA curriculum and outdoor fitness equipment on fitness testing scores of elementary school students. Participants were 4th- and 5th-grade students including 62 females and 54 males. Students were divided into one of four groups: males experiencing (EM) or not experiencing (NEM) the PFA curriculum and females experiencing (EF) and not experiencing (NEF) the PFA curriculum. Students were tested once in the fall and once in the spring for the following activities: cadence push-ups, cadence curl-ups, sit-and-reach, and the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test. EM and EF groups showed significant increases in their pushup, t(33) = -2.088, p = 0.045, and t(28) = -2.783, p = 0.010, and curl-up, t(33) = -2.866, p = 0.007, and t(28) = -3.08, p = 0.005, post-testing scores. Additionally, NEM showed significant increases in their PACER, t(19) = -2.202, p = 0.04, posttesting score. The results of this study indicate the implementation of the PFA curriculum may assist in increasing elementary student muscular strength and endurance fitness testing scores., The childhood obesity epidemic is a major health concern in the United States (Nguyen, 2018). A 5-year longitudinal study following adolescents into young adulthood found that the proportion of adolescents [...]

Sports are popular across the nation and youth sport participation is at an all-time high, yet children are quitting youth sports at an alarming rate. If this trend is going to change, several areas of concern must be addressed. The climate created on youth teams can be polarizing, having the potential for significant positive or negative developmental effects. Therefore, the authors explore achievement goals, motivational climate and personal development, and TARGET descriptions. They offer suggestions for coaches, such as creating a mastery climate or fostering a more positive environment, so this negative trend can hopefully be curbed. Creating a mastery climate presents an environment in which children feels competent and successful and could be the key important factor in their continued participation in youth sport., There is little doubt that the world is infatuated by sports. People watch them, analyze them, argue about them, spend money on them, and encourage their children to play them. [...]

Abstract Physical educators have long proclaimed that physical education class is an important academic discipline to a students' education. With learning objectives taking place in the affective, cognitive and psychomotor [...]