Effects of Recreational Soccer Training on Physical Fitness and Gross Motor Coordination in Prepubertal Boys and Girls

Physical activity is essential for the healthy development of children, contributing significantly to their physical fitness and motor skills. Prepubertal children experience changes in physical growth. During the prepubertal phase, engaging in regular physical activity can lead to substantial improvements in cardiovascular health, muscular strength, agility, and coordination. Physical fitness has been recognized as a key determinant in healthy lifestyles based increasingly on criteria referenced to general health. However, many children and adolescents are only exposed to vigorous physical activity during school based physical education classes. That way, schools seem to provide an excellent setting to enhance physical activity and physical fitness levels. Soccer, a widely popular sport, offers an engaging and enjoyable way for children to improve their physical fitness and gross motor coordination.

This study aims to investigate the effects of recreational soccer training on physical fitness and gross motor coordination in prepubertal boys and girls and to compare the effects of recreational soccer training between boys and girls. This current study will be a clinical trial; data will be calculated from Dar-e-Arqam School, upper mall Lahore. A total of 70 prepubertal children (35 boys and 35 girls) will be recruited for this study. Inclusion criteria for the study will be 7 to 9 years old boys and girls. participants should be in good general health, without any medical condition that could affect their ability to participate in physical activities. Individuals with physical disabilities or impairments that prevent them from engaging in soccer activities will be excluded. Participants will be divided into two experimental groups: Group A (boys) and Group B (girls). Both groups will undergo the same soccer training program. The soccer training program will consist of sessions held thrice a week for 8 weeks, each lasting 60 minutes.Outcomes to be analyzed will be Physical fitness and Gross motor coordination. Data collection will be done before and after the intervention. Tools used for data collection will be Physical fitness test battery for children to assess physical fitness and rohrer's index will be used to assess somatotype. Gross motor coordination will be evaluated using the Körperkoordinations test für Kinder (KTK) test battery. Data will be analyzed through SPSS version 26.00.