Predicting Group Membership of Ninth Grade Female Athletes in Selected Sports

Abstract

To determine whether ninth grade school girls participating in interscholastic basketball or gymnastics are similar or dissimilar in seven selected motor characteristics, a linear discriminant function was used to predict sports membership. 84 ninth grade girls from 5 different public schools in the central-coast section of California were the subjects. 28 girls in each of three groups, interscholastic basketball players, interscholastic gymnasts, and non-athletes, were tested on seven objectively scored physical tests: arm circling, balance test, basketball wall pass, dash, leg raise, stand and bob, and the standing long jump. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated that there was no common mean vector for the seven variables in the three groups. The stepwise discriminant analysis showed that only three of the seven variables (dash, stand and bob, balance test) significantly contributed to the discrimination among the means.