The long-term development of volleyball game play performance using Sport Education and the Step-Game-Approach model

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyse 18 Portuguese high school students’ game play performance improvements across three hybrid Sport Education-Step-Game-Approach volleyball seasons. Students’ play performance at the entry and exit points of each season was evaluated using the Game Performance Assessment Instrument during 2vs2 games. A series of hierarchical linear models was then constructed in order to quantify the impact of gender, skill and time on the students’ Game Performance Index scores over the three seasons. The best predictive model showed a nonlinear effect of time on student performance such that all participants’ levels improved from their first experience at the seventh-grade through to the end of the ninth-grade season. This study has shown the value of implementing multiple seasons of the same sport within Sport Education, as the implementation of three seasons seemed to produce a fading in the gaps between skill levels.