The purpose of this study was to describe anthropometric characteristics and body composition of junior soccer and volleyball players from the Serbian National League as well as to make a comparison between them. Seventy-one male athletes were enrolled in this study, divided into three groups: twenty-fi ve soccer players, fourteen volleyball players and thirty-two healthy sedentary subjects. All subjects were assessed for anthropometric measures required for the calculation of body composition variables, using standardized procedures recommended by previous studies. Data was analysed using SPSS and the descriptive statistics were expressed as a mean (SD) for each variable, while the ANOVA and the LSD Post Hoc tests were carried out to detect eff ects of each type of sport. The results showed that a signifi cant diff erence was found in variables height, weight, and body fat, but no signifi cant diff erence was found in the remaining three variables, body mass index, muscle mass or bone content. Volleyball players were signifi cantly taller and heavier than soccer players or subjects from the control group, while there was no signifi cant diff erence between height and weight of soccer players and subjects from the control group. Subjects from the control group had significantly higher percentage of body fat than both soccer and volleyball players. Soccer players had the lowest percentage of body fat, while subjects from the control group had the highest values of the same variable. Therefore, these fi ndings may give coaches from the region better working knowledge and suggest to them to follow recent selection process methods and to be more careful during the process of talent identifi cation.

Background and Study Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe anthropometric characteristics and body composition of junior handball and basketball players from the Serbian National League, as well as to make a comparison between them. Material and Methods: Sixty male athletes were enrolled in the study and they were divided into three groups: fifteen handball players, thirteen basketball players and thirty-two healthy sedentary subjects. All subjects were assessed for the anthropometric measures required for calculation of body composition variables, using standardized procedures recommended by previous studies. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and descriptive statistics was expressed as a mean (SD) for each variable, while the ANOVA and LSD Post Hoc tests were carried out to detect the effects of each type of sport. Results: The results showed there was no significant difference in body weight, body mass index or in bone content, while a significant difference was found in body height as well as in muscle mass and body fat. Conclusions: These findings may give coaches from the region better working knowledge, and suggest to them to follow recent methods of selection techniques and to be more careful during the process of talent identification.

Within the last decade, childhood obesity has become a serious problem, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research paper aimed to examine whether body mass index (BMI) was higher during the pandemic (2020–2022) than in the pre-pandemic period (2012/2013–2019) using trends related to sex, urban–rural area, and physical activity (PA). This study included data from physical examinations of an entire population of primary school children from Split-Dalmatia County (Croatia) over a period of 10 years. There were 103,804 students from the first, fifth, and eighth grades who participated in the analysis. During the pandemic, the BMI of all the students increased, except for eighth-grade girls. Generations of eighth graders have had significantly different BMIs throughout the past decade. We found that first graders were overweight and obese in urban areas, while in rural areas, this problem was experienced by upper grades. Girls were more overweight and obese in the first and eighth grades, but boys experienced this more in the fifth grade. Reduced PA influenced an increase in BMI in both sexes, especially in girls. During the pandemic, this situation became worse. This study could be useful to experts for the creation of new policies for Split-Dalmatia County and surrounding regions that are similar economically and culturally.

The quality of Physical education (PE) largely depends on the degree of students’ motivation to participate in various kinesiological activities, whereby the level and structure of the motivational space are important. The aim of this research was to analyse the level and structure of student’s motivation to perform tasks in PE classes, as well as gender differences. The research was conducted on 77 female and 61 male primary-school students from Split, Croatia, aged 12 to 15. Motivation assessment was carried out using the Motivation for PE questionnaire. Analysis confirmed that basic metric characteristics of all PE motivation measures are at a satisfactory level. In the total sample, measure of PE motivation is expressed as high, with intrinsic measures of motivation being significantly higher than extrinsic forms of student motivation. In general, no differences were found in measures of motivation according to the sex of the respondents. Differences in several measures of PE motivation were found between respondents of different grades, whereby students of 5th and 6th grades show higher results of PE motivation than students of 7th and 8th grades. Using cluster analysis, three different types of PE motivation were determined for both female and male students. For female student these clusters were defined as very low, high, and extremely high motivated types, while for male students clusters were defined as low, high, and extremely high motivated types. The structure and frequency of types of PE motivation is different for sub-samples of female and male students. Knowledge of the described structure will enable teachers to recognize and intervene in students’ motivation, aiming to optimise work effects in kinesiological education.

The paper presents results of research on development of visual motor integration in children aged 6 to 10 years. Micromotor efficiency of graphomotor type was assessed by the use of a test for evaluation of visual motor integration (VMI). The obtained result showed continues progression in the field of graphomotor skills in children. Statistically significant point of increase of visual motor integration has been found between students from first and second grade, in both male and female subjects. The results also showed statistically significant difference in graphomotor skills between first graders in favour of female students. The findings imply significance of developmental period between 6 and 7 years in the process of visual motor integration in the field of graphomotor skills as a integrative part of ontogenetic development.Keywords: fine motor skills, graphomotor skills, primary education, ontogenetic development U radu su prezentirani rezultati istraživanja razvoja vizualno motorike integracije kod djece u dobi od 6 do 10 godina. Mikromotorička efikasnost grafo-motoričkog tipa procjenjena je uporabom testa za procjenu vizualno-motorike integracije (VMI). Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju kontinuirani napredak u polju grafo-motoričkih vještina kod djece. Statistički značajana točka napretka u vizualno-motoričkoj integraciji pronađena je između učenika prvog i drugog razred i to kod učenika i učenica. Rezultati pokazuju statistički značajnu razliku u grafo-motoričkim vještinama između učenika prvog razreda u korist učenica. Nalazi impliciraju značajnost razvojnog perioda između 6. i 7. godine u procesu vizualno-motoričke integracije u području grafo-motoričkih sposopnosti kao integrativnog dijela ontogenetskog razvoja. Ključne riječi: fine motoričk vještine, grafomotoričke vještine, primarna edukacij, ontogenetski razvoj

The aim of this study was to determine the factors affecting students’ satisfaction with their class community by measuring the contributions of “positive” resources: either the socio-demographic and individual characteristics of students, or common characteristics of the class community. The research was conducted anonymously using multiple questionnaires on a sample of 267 students attending the higher grades (5th–8th grades) of primary schools from an urban area of the city of Split. It was determined that social cohesion and prosocial behaviour within the class community were the strongest determinants and were also the most important positive resources of satisfaction with the class community. Individual psychological characteristics (especially self-esteem and hope) and the socio-demographic characteristics of students also played a significant role in explaining satisfaction with the class community, but their relative contribution was much weaker than social relations within the class community. The three types of psychological characteristics of the students were positively related to the degree of satisfaction with the class community, but this association was at a low level. More than half of the students were not completely satisfied with their class community. Furthermore, based on the five fundamental dimensions of intrinsic (IM) and extrinsic motivation (EM) within PE motivation, four types of students with different motivational characteristics were determined: the very low type; moderate type; very high IM and low EM type; and extremely high type. It is recommended that experts continue researching the relationship between psychological and social variables in class communities, as well as investigating the effectiveness of possible interventions aimed at the development and improvement of social relationships in the educational and sports talent development environment.