Physical Education and Sport Through The Centuries

EFFECTS OF GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL PROGRAMS ON PHYSICAL FITNESS IN YOUNG SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Grassroots football programmes represent accessible football-based interventions that may support physical fitness development in young school-aged children through structured, enjoyable and game-based physical activity. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the available evidence on the effects of grassroots football programmes on physical fitness in young school-aged children. Following PRISMA guidelines, relevant studies published up to April 2026 were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar, with supplementary searches conducted through additional sources. Of the 512 records initially identified, 11 studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final synthesis (N=11). The 11 included studies comprised a total sample of 3,674 children, with six studies examining the “11 for Health” programme and five studies examining recreational football interventions. The most consistent findings were observed for cardiorespiratory fitness, with improvements in VO2max reported in most studies that assessed this outcome, while blood pressure changes were generally favorable but less uniform. Motor abilities also improved in several studies, particularly balance, explosive power, sprint performance and agility. Body composition findings were generally favorable, especially for body fat percentage and fat-free mass, although changes in BMI and body mass were less consistent. Overall, the findings suggest that grassroots football programmes may represent a practical and promising strategy for improving physical fitness in young school-aged children.

MAKING STRENGTH KNOWABLE: STRENGTH TRAINING, GYMNASTIKĒ, AND SPORT SCIENCE IN THE OLYMPIC TRADITION

Nikola Stojanović, Milica Filipović, Đorđe Savić, Zvezdan Savić, Igor Ilić — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the historical and epistemological transformation of strength training within the Olympic tradition, from ancient Greek athletic culture to contemporary sport science. Rather than narrating this history as a linear progression from pre-scientific practice to scientific precision, it asks how knowledge about strength, effort, fatigue, recovery, readiness, and performance was produced, authorized, contested, and reorganized across time. Using a qualitative historical-epistemological approach, the article interprets ancient poetic, philosophical, medical, historical, and gymnastic sources alongside scholarship on ancient athletics, Olympism, physical culture, objectivity, quantification, and strength-training science. The analysis identifies six regimes of bodily knowledge: agonistic commemoration, gymnasion-based practical training, medical and dietetic regulation, gymnastikē as specialized expertise, modern Olympism and physical culture, and laboratory-based sport science. The findings show continuity in the practical problems of athletic preparation, but rupture in the forms of authority through which those problems were explained and governed. The article argues that strength training in the Olympic tradition is not merely a history of methods, but a history of how the athletic body became visible, meaningful, trainable, and true.

STRUCTURE OF DIMENSIONS OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR OF VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF BOTH SEXES

Miroljub Ivanović, Vladimir Pantelić, Irina Ćosić — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to test the multidimensional latent structure of the construct of sexual behavior among male and female elite volleyball players within the Serbian-speaking area. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to test the multidimensional latent structure of the construct of sexual behavior among male and female elite volleyball players within the Serbian-speaking area. The online survey sample (N = 224) comprised senior competitors of both sexes active in the Serbian Super League. The average age of the male participants was M = 23.16 years (SD = 1.12), and for the female participants, it was M = 22.26 years (SD = 4.05). The Sexual Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ) was utilized as the primary measuring instrument. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted on 70 manifest variables using the Guttman-Kaiser criterion. Non-orthogonal rotation of the principal components was executed via the Promax criterion, extracting six principal components with eigenvalues higher than one (λ ≥ 1), which cumulatively explained 56.75% of the total variance. The isolated latent dimensions were theoretically interpreted as: (a) permissive sexual behavior and radical fantasies (F₁), (b) extensive sexual experience (F₂), (c) petting and intimate sexual play (F₃), (d) psychosexual disorder/experimentation in achieving sexual pleasure (F₄), (e) sex in unusual places (F₅), and (f) casual sex (F₆). The majority of the calculated Pearson correlation coefficients among these isolated dimensions were statistically significant (p \(\le \) .05), positive in direction, and moderate in intensity. The obtained results contribute to the sparse and inconsistent empirical literature regarding the complex interactions of sexual behavior factors among elite senior volleyball players. Finally, the paper discusses the theoretical contributions and practical implications of these findings for sports psychology, outlines the methodological limitations, and offers insights for future longitudinal research designs.

INTEGRATION OF PHYSIOLOGY, DIGITAL TWIN AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN SPORT: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW, CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND THE ROLE OF BIOCHEMISTS AND PHYSIOLOGISTS

Vojkan Nestorović, Anja Nestorović — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Digital twin (DT) and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming the foundation of modern sports engineering and medicine. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the existing literature (2021–2026) on the application of DT and AI in sport, map the role of physiologists in the development of these models, and propose a conceptual framework integrating DNA, microbiome, nutrition, psychophysiological data and the digital patient–athlete. According to the PRISMA methodology, 120 papers were identified, of which 46 were analyzed in detail after risk of bias assessment using the ROBINS-I tool [1]. The paper highlights serious methodological shortcomings in the literature, quantifies the distribution of effects, and concludes that the level of evidence is low. The role of the physiologist is crucial but systemically neglected

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY COMPOSITION AND MOTOR ABILITIES IN YOUNG FOOTBALL PLAYERS (U10 CATEGORY)

Đorđe Savić, Pavle Slavković, Uroš Nikolić — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigated the relationship between body composition (body fat and skeletal muscle percentage) and fundamental motor abilities motor abilities (speed, explosive power, agility) in 18 male youth football players (U10) from FC Vitez from Serbia. Body composition was assessed via bioelectrical impedance, while motor performance was evaluated using a 20m sprint (5m/10m splits), a jump test battery (squat jump, countermovement jump, countermovement jump with arm swing, standing long jump) and agility tests (T-test, Illinois, slalom). Body fat percentage demonstrated a strong negative correlation with all explosive power tests, peaking with the Squat Jump (r = -0.80, p < 0.01). It correlated positively with 10m (r = 0.64, p < 0.01) and 20m (r = 0.67, p < 0.01) sprint times and all agility scores, meaning higher fat associated to poorer performance. Skeletal muscle percentage showed a strong positive correlation with explosive power (Squat jump r = 0.86, p < 0.01) and a strong negative correlation with sprint and agility results (p<0.05) (higher muscle mass associated to faster times). No one parameter significantly correlated with the short 5m sprint (p>0.05). Body composition is closely related to athletic capacity in U10 football players. Excess adiposity acts as a passive inertial load that hinders acceleration and maneuvering, whereas developed muscle mass is shows a strong positive relationship with explosive force.

EFFECTS OF AN EIGHT-WEEK ELASTIC BAND RESISTANCE TRAINING PROTOCOL ON SPRINT PERFORMANCE IN YOUTH BASKETBALL PLAYERS

Dušan Stanković, Saša Bubanj — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Professional basketball places significant stress on the lower extremities, necessitating systematic resistance training to enhance athletic performance and mitigate injury risk. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of an eight-week standardized elastic band resistance training protocol on sprint performance in youth basketball players. Twenty-seven participants (n=13 experimental; n=14 control) completed an eight-week intervention. Sprint performance (5m and 10m) was measured pre- and post-intervention. Results indicated that the experimental group achieved statistically significant improvements in 5m sprint times (p=0.015; d=0.78), reflecting moderate effect sizes. While 10m sprint times showed a positive trend, these changes did not reach statistical significance (p=0.106; d=0.48). The control group exhibited no significant changes, with trivial effect sizes across all metrics. These findings demonstrate that a standardized elastic band training protocol is an effective, scalable strategy for enhancing explosive initial acceleration in youth athletes. Due to the portability and cost-effectiveness of elastic resistance, this protocol represents a highly practical solution for off-season conditioning. Future research should investigate long-term neuromuscular adaptations across broader athletic populations to further optimize athletic development.

IN HABSBURG TRIESTE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR (1914–1918)

Silvio Dorigo — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

From the late 19th century until World War I, the Sokol gymnastic and recreational associations played a crucial role in the social, political, and national awakening of Slavic peoples, particularly within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Meanwhile Trieste, a city with an Italian-speaking majority but a significant Slavic-speaking minority (predominantly Slovene-speaking), was one of the Empire's largest cities and its principal port and shipbuilding hub.

Moreover, in the surrounding territory administered by the city (Reichsunmittelbare Stadt Triest und ihr Gebiet), this minority constituted an absolute Slovene majority.

These circumstances give rise to the following text regarding the Sokol groups in Trieste and the surrounding area during the Habsburg era. It focuses on the activities and choices of specific groups and their leaders as well as the general conduct of their members within the constraints imposed by the context of World War I.

The text draws upon the limited information available in specialized historiography, tracing two, at times radically different, paths, even though both maintained a stance of loyalty toward Habsburg authority. The first was the "leadership" path, which fostered the evolution of Slovenization and Yugoslavism within the framework of Slavic solidarity inherent to the international Sokol movement. The second was the "combatant" path, necessarily aligned with the Habsburg Empire and opposed to other Slavs, primarily Russians and Serbs, which at times resulted in death, suffering, and the awarding of medals for military valor.