Review article

Psychological characteristics of children in sport

Antonija Urli ; Institut za zaštitu majki i djece, Klinika za pedijatriju, Zagreb
Neven Šikić ; Institut za zaštitu majki i djece, Klinika za pedijatriju, Zagreb

Abstract

Psychology of sport plays one of the most important roles in sports activities. Its basic objective is: protection of the uniqueness and integrity of a child/adult as a bio-psychosocial being, Now a days, a lot of children informally participate in sports after school, and only few of them are organized in structured settings either in sport clubs or societies, etc, although, the number of those children is increasing every year. There is a general agreement that sports activities have one positive impact on children’s physical, psychical and social development. They also provide an excellent possibility for creating communication and interrelation with others. Furthermore, the sport games contribute to the desirable development of self-concept, self-consciousness, creation of a child’s personality and his acceptance in the group. On the other hand, competitive sport games were criticized due to their “destructiveness” for communication, because winning is often achieved against loss and disappointment for others.
Yo avoid that, the aim of the competition should be not only winning, but also learning, including cognition of oneself and others, and above all, the sport should be – a pleasure. Accordingly, humanistic principles should be promoted: children should be directed to the most suitable sports, where, depending on their possibilities, they could achieve the best results and_ satisfaction. Consequently, special talents could be detected and further promoted by additional specialized trainings to the level of high quality. Children of average or lower psycho-social abilities should also participate in sports activities. In all these activities, sport psychologist should be involved not only in psychological examinations and measurings, but also in pedagogical work, actively contributing to creation of a healthy person and protection of children in sport.

Keywords

sport’s psychology, children in sport

Hrčak ID:

253022

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/253022

Publication date:

21.1.1993.

Article data in other languages: croatian german

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