| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to determine the effects, if any, on soccer dribbling skills in children, ages, 8-10, after practicing with different sized soccer balls during the season. The Kansas Youth Soccer Association (KYSA, 2008) and the United States Soccer Association (US Soccer, 2011) recommended that children use smaller sized soccer balls than regulation adult sized soccer balls. As indicated by the associations, the size three ball is recommended for children under 8 (U-8), the size four ball is recommended for children under 12 (U-12), and the size five ball is recommended for children older than 12. Twenty-four recreational soccer players from Kansas participated in the study. The participants were from two different teams. The children were randomly placed on the teams by the league officials, unless parents specifically requested a coach. The Mor-Christian General Soccer Ability Skill Test Battery was used to test soccer dribbling skills (Collins & Hodges, 2001 p. 208). Both teams were timed in a pretest for soccer dribbling skills. Team one, the experimental group, was tested using the size five ball, and team two, the control group, was tested using the size four ball. The pretest was followed by six weeks of practice using their assigned size balls. Practice consisted of 1 hour practices twice a week. At the end of the six weeks program, a posttest was administered to both teams. Data were collected and a t-test was used to analyze the data. The results of this study indicated that there was not a significant difference in dribbling skills between the children in the control group as compared to the children in the experimental group. While the size four ball revealed quicker time results, these numbers were not significant enough to rule out the effect of what would be expected by chance. Based on the finding of this study, the following conclusions were made: 1) ball size does not offset dribbling skills in young soccer players; 2) soccer players 8 to 10 years old should continue to play with the smaller size four ball; and 3) the weight and size of the larger ball may be too cumbersome for young players to control and develop dribbling skills. | |
