German sportschools: Dual careers, chronic stress and protective resources – A three years longitudinal study comparing two different models

Introduction To support young athletes in their sport and school career, various federal and national types of sportschools have been established in Germany. Two models founded in 2006 are the NRW-Sportschool by the federal... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction

To support young athletes in their sport and school career, various federal and national types of sportschools have been established in Germany. Two models founded in 2006 are the NRW-Sportschool by the federal government of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the DFB-Soccer Elite School by the German Soccer Association (DFB). Despite these supportive structures, dual careers are still discussed controversially. Recently, stress theoretical considerations have become a research topic in sport pedagogy in order to analyze the effectiveness of sportschools – which up to now is rare.

Methods

Using validated scales on chronic stress and protective resources (Richartz, Hoffmann & Sallen, 2009) a NRW-Sportschool and a DFB-Soccer Elite School participated in a research project with three points of measurement each collected between 2011 and 2016 in four cohorts. In total, 562 students participated in the project from 5^th to 7^th grade. The longitudinal sample size (N=271; 160 male, 111 female) includes 60 athletes (N(NRW)=37; N(DFB)=23) and 211 regular students (N(NRW)=122; N(DFB)=89).

Results

The results of the MANOVA with repeated measures and Scheffé-test show low chronic stress of all participants caused by school, social and time pressure. With regard to time pressure the DFB-soccer students show highest scores (group: p=,011*/ƞ²=,042; time x group: p=,020*/ƞ²=,028), however, they are highly satisfied with school (group: p=,006**/ƞ²=,046). In general, all students possess a large pool of protective resources in various personal and social domains. Though, DFB-soccer students show highest scores for general self-concept (group: p=,001***/ƞ²=,057) and, consistently with NRW-student-athletes, for sport self-concept (group: p<,001***/ƞ²=,085).

Conclusion

NRW-Sportschools and DFB-Soccer Elite Schools provide a supporting framework for young athletes to meet the demands of sport, school and individual development for a successful dual career.

References

Richartz, A., Hoffmann, K. & Sallen, J. (2009). Kinder im Leistungssport. Chronische Belastungen und protektive Ressourcen. Schorndorf: Hofmann.