Practice of football and life skills learning: an empirical study
Practice of football and life skills learning: an empirical study

Summary/Abstract: Background The link between the practice of sports and life skills learning has been the objective of various studies conducted worldwide, but no research has to date been carried out in Italy. Objectives This study was aimed at understanding (1) if playing football in the youth section of a football clubs is considered a helpful experience to learn life skills and (2) if differences exist among life skills learned by subjects belonging to different football clubs or age groups. Method The study involved all the 589 athletes belonging to the youth sections of two Italian football clubs, a professional one (n = 299) and an amateur one (n = 290) and an amateur one. The study was performed by 86 focus groups. The answers provided by the participants were analyzed using a paper- and- pencil technique. Results 64 learnings emerged that are related to life skills, particularly to coping, self- management and interpersonal relationships. Learning outcomes significantly differed as a function of the players age grouping and club status. Conclusions Results may favor the investment.

• Details
• Contents