This study aimed to examine the sport participation of 229 Portuguese volleyball players through a previously validated questionnaire within different stages of their development and considering their expertise level and gender. The skilled players differed from the less skilled in having accrued more hours of training throughout all stages. Female players reported less early sport involvement (fewer number of sports practiced and less involvement in team sports and competitions) than males. The early involvement in individual sports by skilled female players seems to be important in their route to expertise, while the later involvement in individual sports by less-skilled male players possibly indicates the need for other motivational sport experiences. These particular findings provide valuable information to guide the designs of Portuguese volleyball players' development considering gender and expertise at the same time. However, additional work is needed to understand to what extent these findings may be system, culture or sport dependent.

Abstract:Despite recent attention, research is yet to adequately focus on sports coaches' intellectual development as a consequence of their formal learning experiences. Drawing on the work of Perry, the aim of this article was to explore how the intellectual development of undergraduate sports coaching students was affected by the social pedagogical setting exposed to. 27 students from two different universities were selected through network and convenience sampling, and 'tracked' over their three year course(s) of study. Data were gathered through focus groups, video diaries and reflective written logs. Findings revealed that over the course of their study students generally progressed from a dualist to a more relativist view of the world. Such a movement, however, was far from unproblematic and uniform. Rather, it was subject to the vagaries of assessment, course structure, the epistemic range of modules experienced, and in particular the relationships established with staff members.

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