Socio-motor relationships, perceived enjoyment and competence of young players during the game of tag

Resumen

This study aimed to assess the socio-motor interactions and the perceived enjoyment and competence levels of young players during a game of tag. 21 players under 13s from two different teams of the same football club (subgroup-A and subgroup-B) played a new modified version of the game of tag for ten minutes. The motor relationships were analysed registering the number of counter-communications (i.e. catching attempts) and the players involved. The perceived enjoyment and competence levels were assessed using the BECS scale. The Chi-square test showed significant differences (p < .001; effect size [ES] = 0.65, moderate) in the counter-communications, according to the subgroup of the tagger and the runner: the 87%

and the 68% of the total counter-communications involved only players of the same subgroup and only from subgroup- A, respectively. The mean enjoyment was significantly (p = .03) and substantially (ES = 0.98, large) higher for the subgroup-A players (4.0 ± 0.8; coefficient of variation [CV] = 20%) compared to subgroup-B players (3.8 ± 0.6; CV = 16%). Besides revealing the socio-motor interactions of the players, a game of tag could be an interesting alternative to experience the motor instability, identify the social relationships of a group and guarantee high enjoyment in young players.