Integrating Life Skills into Kid's Athletics Program on Extracurricular Activities

Abstract

Life skills play a crucial role in the success of individual lives, but research related to life skills in sports activities, especially athletics is still very limited. This study aims to determine the effect of integrating life skills into the Kid’s athletics program on extracurricular activities in elementary schools. A quasi-experimental method was administered in this study with a questionnaire technique for the data collection. Collected samples using purposive sampling, forty-five elementary school students aged 11-12 years (11.4±1.1) participating in extracurricular activities were taken as the research subjects. The samples were divided into three groups: the experimental group with an intentionally structured kid athletic program, the experimental group with the unintentionally structured kid athletic program, and the control group without any treatment. All groups were assigned a ten-session program. The results showed a significant difference between the value of the life skills integrated into the Kid’s athletics program and the group in the Kid’s athletics program that did not integrate life skills (p>0.05). This study indicates that life skills can be developed through Kids’ athletic programs by integrating them into extracurricular activities and sports, with the hope that students can implement them in everyday life to be valuable and successful in facing various life challenges in the future.