WHAT DO CHILDREN MOST ENJOY ABOUT SUMMER SOCCER CAMP? GENDER AND GROUP PERCEPTIONS

Authors

  • Rhys Jones

Abstract

One hundred children attending a summer soccer camp in NE Ohio provided written data on what they most enjoyed about the camp. Findings indicated that, overall, they ranked ‘soccer games and skills’ and ‘camp related activities’ as the two leading major categories. In terms of gender group analysis (females = 49; males = 51) the males gave more emphasis than did the females to the first ranked major category of ‘soccer games and skills’. Further, the boys’ group ranked the major category ‘social experiences’ in third place and ‘learning focus’ in fourth. In contrast, the girls group placed ‘social experiences’ and ‘learning focus’ in the reverse rank order. Specific subcategory analysis revealed that the female group gave greater response emphasis to ‘playing world cup’ games than the males who, in turn, focused more on ‘performing specific skills’ than did the females. The boys also gave more emphasis to the subcategories of ‘watching videos’ and ‘meeting the coaches’ than the girls. The female group gave more response to ‘interacting with peers’ and ‘taking super skill tests’ than did their male counterparts. Study findings raised issues, questions and areas for future research; particularly, in terms of gender stereotypes, bias and learning as factors related to soccer camp grouping, activity selection, coach impact and instructional media.?

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Published

2005-01-26

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Section

Articles