The investigation of the effects of the small-sided games subjected to the 14-15 age-group male soccer players on their problem solving, motivation and attention skills

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of small-sided games applied to 14-15 age group male soccer players on their problem solving, motivation and attention skills. Erbaaspor 14-15 male soccer team (18 players) attended the research as the experimental group, Hacıpazar Secondary School 14-15 male soccer team (18 players) as the control group. Of the pre-tested groups, the experimental group was subjected to the Small-sided Games Training Program 3 days a week for 10 weeks; the control group to the Basic Technique and Skills Training Program 3 days a week for 10 weeks. At the end of these 10 weeks, the groups were post-tested. Data has been obtained by Personal Information Form, Sports-Specific Achievement Motivation Scale (SSAMS), Problem Solving Skills Scale (PSSS), the d2 Test of Attention. The assumption of normality of the data was analyzed with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test by using the Independent Samples t-test between the groups and the Dependent Samples t-test within the group. Statistical analysis was performed with IBM-SPSS-21. The significance level was set equal to 0,05. In this study, it has been observed that the 10-week Small-sided Games Training Program subjected to the experimental group significantly affects and improves "Motive to Approach Success" of the sub-scales of the Sports-Spesific Achievement Motivation Scale, "Evaluator Approach" of the sub-scales of the Problem Solving Inventory and the attention skill levels of the soccer players.