Mert Bilgiç

Measuring pre-service dieticians’ sport nutrition knowledge levels seems important in order to determine their real educational needs, monitor the im

While it is widely accepted that coach knowledge plays a foundational role in coaching effectiveness, there are few validated tools to determine pre- and- in-service coaches’ content knowledge (CK) levels. Thus, the aim of the present study was to develop and validate two CK test packs for developing physical and technical competence in athletes. Using convenience sampling, 2457 pre-service coaches participated in this study voluntarily. Several steps were followed for development of nine CK tests including facilitating panels, and processes for establishing content and face validities. Winstep was used to conduct Rasch analyses. Content validity was established, and the infit and outfit statistics confirmed that, with minor exceptions, all of the tests met the standards as the difficulties of questions matched respondents’ knowledge levels. The item and person separation indices showed excellent and acceptable confidence levels in item difficulties and respondents, respectively. The Wright map further demonstrated that all tests had a good range of difficulty levels to discriminate different knowledge levels. Data generated through the use of these CK test packs can be used to understand the actual knowledge levels of coaches, to monitor their improvements and to inform the development of educational programs.

Relative Age Effects (RAEs) have been widely reported trends in basketball participation, but research on the relationship between RAEs and competitive performance has been contradictory. We aimed to determine the magnitude of RAEs in elite youth basketball players and to analyze RAEs on key performance indicators (KPIs). We recorded and analyzed the incidence of early birthdates and the KPIs of 2487 youth basketball players (aged 16–19 years). We evaluated RAEs by means of the incidence of early birthdates using (i) Chi-square (χ ² ) goodness-of-fit tests to compare player differences in birthdate quartiles and (ii) Poisson regression analysis to evaluate birthdates as a continuous variable. We conducted Kruskal-Wallis tests separately for each age group to assess possible relationships between birthdate quartile differences and KPIs. We observed consistent moderate RAEs across all ages. The Poisson regression analysis showed that athletes born near the beginning of the year were 4.6–8.4 times more likely to have been included on the squad than athletes born towards the end of the year. We observed no significant differences between KPIs for differently aged athletes. However, 16-year-old athletes with first quartile birthdates showed higher KPIs than those with fourth quartile birthdates of the same calendar year. The potential bases for RAEs are complex and include the characteristic demands of sports competition at various competition levels and athletes’ ages, individual factors and social factors. We discuss these and other potential bases. Basketball coaches and managers should keep RAEs in mind when selecting youth players to avoid a selection bias towards players born at the beginning of the year which may close out training opportunities and cause drop outs for talented but slightly younger players.

Relative age effects (RAEs) refer to all consequences of chronological age-based systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of RAEs among Turkish racket sports players. As a nationwide analysis, the present study extends beyond the typical investigations of elite-level popular sports by examining RAEs in racket sports players from the lowest grassroots level to the top and from children to veteran athletes. A total of 57476 racket sports players (i.e., badminton, squash, table tennis and tennis) were evaluated in the study. To investigate interquartile distributions, Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests were used. Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to compare quartiles. Poisson regression with canonical link was conducted to analyze the count data. A statistically significant difference in the prevalence of RAEs was noted in both genders and in total sample. The ID in Poisson regression shows that players born at the beginning of the year are 1.63 more likely to be represented than those born at the end of the year. Considering the sports separately, statistically significant distribution bias was found in badminton, table tennis and tennis but not in squash. Moreover, regarding the age categories, the peak RAEs were noted in the youngest age category of tennis as 30.6% of players were in Q1 while only 17.4% were in Q4. Such findings have been discussed with different moderators, hypotheses and models such as the developmental systems model, social agents, psychological issues, and the role of selection processes by coaches. In conclusion, process (i.e. athlete development process) is suggested to be focused instead of a point in the continuum for selection and scouting practices, which may ensure avoiding talent loss and sports drop-out and establishing quality sport participation environments for all.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable hiking and camping common content knowledge test for Turkish preservice physical education teachers. Method: Participants were 305 physical education students who had previously completed hiking and camping content course in Physical Education Teacher Education. The researchers followed five steps to develop the test. The Rasch model was utilized for data analysis. Results: Findings showed a good item model fit for all items, except Item 4. Results also indicated that the developed test had high internal consistency for both item difficulty and person ability. Overall, the test findings demonstrated good evidence to support the validity and reliability of hiking and camping common content knowledge test. Discussion/Conclusion: The developed test can be used for measuring hiking and camping knowledge level of physical education teachers and Physical Education Teacher Education students.

Early identification and development of “talented” athletes in youth sport is of primary interest to national governing bodies of sport and sport clubs across all sports. Selection bias during recruitment and planning the developmental pathways of athletes is a critical issue to address, and relative age effect (RAE) is one of the concepts to be investigated in this regard. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of RAE in U17 and U20 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and to investigate the role of age category, playing position and continents with regard to RAE. A total of 2016 female soccer players (U17=1008, U20=1008) participating in the last three consecutive U17 and U20 FIFA Women's World Cups were evaluated based on the birth month distributions. Inter-quartile differences were assessed using the Chi-square (χ²) goodness-of-fit test, and odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to compare quartiles. RAE was more prevalent in U17 compared to U20 (χ2=43.865, p<.001, V=0.12; χ2=24.071, p<.001, V=0.09, respectively). For all positions, the number of female soccer players born in the first quarter of the year was higher than those born in the last quarter. In U17, RAE was statistically significant in all positions, while in U20 only defenders and midfielders’ distributions were significantly skewed. In conclusion, RAE is a critical issue to investigate in female soccer context, and age categories, playing position and continents seem such moderators of RAE that coaches and policy makers need to consider.

Alan bilgisi, bir öğretmenin bir konu alanını öğretebilmek için ihtiyaç duyduğu bilgi olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Alan bilgisi genel ve özelleşmiş alan bilgisi olarak iki alt boyutta incelenmektedir. Genel alan bilgisi ne öğreteceğini bilmek olarak ifade edilirken, özelleşmiş alan bilgisi nasıl öğretileceğini bilmek olarak açıklanmaktadır. Beden eğitimi öğretmenlerinin ya da öğretmen adaylarının alan bilgisinin iki alt boyutunda yeterli bilgi düzeyine sahip olmaları beklenmektedir. Badminton, belirli bir alan içerisinde belirli kurallar çerçevesinde raket ve tüytop ile oynanan bir raket sporudur ve Türkiye’de yaygın olarak beden eğitimi ve spor derslerinde öğretilmektedir. Genel alan bilgisinin öğretme etkililiğindeki önemi ve badmintonun beden eğitimi ve spor öğretmenliği lisans programları ile okul beden eğitimi derslerinde sıklıkla öğretiliyor olması göz önünde bulundurulduğunda geçerliği ve güvenilirliği sağlanmış bir badminton testi hazırlamanın gerekli olduğu görülmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı beden eğitimi ve spor öğretmenleri ve öğretmen adayları için badminton genel alan bilgisi (GAB) testi geliştirmektir. Çalışmaya dört farklı üniversiteden 121 beden eğitimi ve spor öğretmen adayı katılmıştır. Katılımcıların yaş aralığının 19 ile 27 (X̄= 21.88, Ss= 4.03) arasında olduğu belirlenmiştir. Badminton GAB testi dört aşamalı bir süreç sonucunda oluşturulmuştur. Test geliştirme sürecine bir program geliştirme uzmanı, iki üst düzey badminton antrenörü (milli takım antrenörleri), iki üst düzey badminton sporcusu (milli sporcular), üniversitede badminton derslerini yürüten bir öğretim elemanı ve beden eğitimi dersinde badminton öğretimi gerçekleştiren bir beden eğitimi öğretmeni katılmıştır. Test soruları Yükseköğretim Kurumunun beden eğitimi ve spor öğretmenliği lisans programında yer alan alt boyutları esas alınarak belirtke tablosu ile oluşturulmuştur. Testin geliştirme süreci sonunda badminton GAB testi 5 oyun kuralları, 3 görgü kuralları, 3 güvenlik kuralları, 5 teknik ve 4 taktik sorusu olmak üzere toplam 20 sorudan oluşmaktadır. Geliştirilen GAB testinin geçerlik ve güvenirliği Rasch analizi kullanılarak yapılmıştır. Test sorularının 19’u gerekli içsel ve dışsal uyum indekslerini sağlamıştır. Soruların ve kişilerin ayırt edicilik ve güven indeksleri yeterli değerler aralığındadır. Sonuç olarak, geliştirilen 20 soruluk testin 19’u badminton GAB testi geçerli ve güvenilir olduğu belirlenmiştir. Beden eğitimi ve spor öğretmenleri ve öğretmen adaylarının badminton GAB düzeyini ölçmek için geliştirilen bu testin kullanılması önerilmektedir.

Background: T he purpose of this study was to identify the relative age effect (RAE) in European youth badminton through examining participation trends. Material and methods: T he birthdate distributions of 1909 badminton players (males = 994, females = 915) participating in the last three consecutive European U15, U17 and Junior (U19) Badminton Championships were analysed. Chi-square (χ²) goodness-of-fit tests were used to determine inter-quartile differences, and odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated in order to compare quartiles with each other. Results: Statistically significant over-representation of players born shortly after the cut-off date was determined. Regarding gender, RAE was more notable in males compared to females, and the strongest results were determined in U15 compared to the other age categories. Moreover, striking trends were determined in Q1–Q4 comparisons, particularly as players in Q1 were more than twice for females and thrice for males as likely to participate in the European Badminton Championships. Conclusions: F indings of this study confirm the presence of RAE in European youth badminton though decreasing its intensity with age. Certain precautions or different approaches should be taken into consideration to organize the age categories, such as biological markers, variations, rotations or age quota for equal opportunities.