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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living

Sec. Sports Coaching: Performance and Development

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1632930

Assessing fundamental motor skills proficiency in school-based sports physical education programs: implications for talent development

Provisionally accepted
Hubert  MakarukHubert Makaruk1*E. Kipling  WebsterE. Kipling Webster2Jared  PorterJared Porter2Beata  MakarukBeata Makaruk1Anna  BodasińskaAnna Bodasińska1Janusz  ZielinskiJanusz Zielinski1Paweł  TomaszewskiPaweł Tomaszewski1Marta  NogalMarta Nogal1Marcin  StarzakMarcin Starzak1Marcin  ŚliwaMarcin Śliwa1Michal  BanaśMichal Banaś1Michał  BiegajłoMichał Biegajło1Agata  ChaliburdaAgata Chaliburda1Bogusz  SucheckiBogusz Suchecki1Bartosz  MolikBartosz Molik1Jerzy  SadowskiJerzy Sadowski1
  • 1Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
  • 2The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Introduction: Fundamental motor skills (FMS) are essential for fostering physical literacy, supporting talent development, and promoting public health in school-aged populations. This study aimed to evaluate FMS proficiency among students in school-based sports physical education (PE) programs, which offer sport-specific training, and compare it to students in traditional PE programs. A secondary aim was to examine whether these programs promote early specialization or early diversification in youth sport development. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 1,332 students (ages 10-14; 58% boys) from 12 schools across Poland, including 547 students in school-based sports PE programs and 785 in traditional PE. The Fundamental Motor Skills in Sport (FUS) test, a qualitative and process-oriented assessment tool, was used to evaluate FMS across six motor tasks: hurdles, jumping rope, forward roll, ball bouncing, ball throwing and catching, and kicking and stopping a ball. Participants were further categorized by sport: boys into basketball, track and field, soccer, and volleyball; girls into basketball, track and field, and volleyball. Results: Overall, FMS proficiency was at an ‘insufficient’ level in both groups, with 72% of boys and 77% of girls in school-based sports PE programs, and 90% of boys and 92% of girls in traditional PE programs. Additionally, the analysis revealed a predominant emphasis on early specialization within school-based sports PE programs. Conclusions: Both school-based sports and traditional PE programs fail to ensure adequate FMS proficiency in students. The sport PE programs’ curricular focus on early specialization over diversification may further restrict opportunities for motor competence development, with potential consequences for lifelong physical activity and the early stages of talent development.

Keywords: motor competence, motor behavior, Physical Education, Early specialization, Youth

Received: 21 May 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Makaruk, Webster, Porter, Makaruk, Bodasińska, Zielinski, Tomaszewski, Nogal, Starzak, Śliwa, Banaś, Biegajło, Chaliburda, Suchecki, Molik and Sadowski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Hubert Makaruk, Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

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