Promoting Self-Management Skills for Soccer Players with
Disabilities through Objective Cards
Nadav Dagan
Mifalot Education and Society Enterprises, Tel Aviv, Israel
1. INTRODUCTION. Self-management is defined as the application of a behavioral chain that
consists of setting a goal, planning and implementing a strategy, achieving the goal and setting a
new goal. Self-management is essential for improving sports performance, developing a wide
range of life, social and occupational skills and adopting a healthy life style.
Planning and
implementing a strategy
Setting a goal
Achieving
the goal
Setting a
new goal
Eldar, E., Ayvazo, S. (2009). Educating through the physical – Rationale. Education & Treatment of Children, 13, 471-486.
2. OBJECTIVE. To develop and evaluate the use of Objective Cards for promoting and monitoring
self-management skills in soccer players with disabilities
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
Push-up count
60
50
40
30
20
10
100%
100%
80% 83%
75%
66%
60%
40%
40%
20%
0%
0
1
2
3
4
5 6 7
Session
8
9 10 11
Figure 2. Objective cards
improve physical performance
A
B
C
D
E
F
Players
G
H
I
Figure 3. Objective cards monitor
goal achievement rates
Self-evaluation of difficulty Next objective
1
10
Difficult / Moderate / Easy
13
2
13
Difficult / Moderate / Easy
15
3
14
Difficult / Moderate / Easy
14
Figure 1. Objective Card
template and example
100%
75% 75%
80%
Session Push-ups
Push-up count
70
Goals achieved, % of sessions
3. METHODS. The intervention program included 60 soccer players
with varied disabilities. In each practice session, the players
completed 10 minutes of unsupervised warm-up, followed by 5
minutes of push-ups. The number of push-ups was monitored, and
at the end of the practice each player was asked to set a new pushup goal for the next practice. This self-set goal was then compared
to the number of push-ups completed by each player in the next
practice. Both goal and outcome were graphically summarized on a
weekly basis using Objective Cards (Figure 1). These cards further
included a choice of 3 assignments relating to the subsequent
practice, which each player was required to complete once yearly.
These included coming up with relevant educational topics to
present in the next practice, checking the attendance list, or
leading the warm-up session (Figure 1).
Intervention
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Performance
goals
1
2
3
4
5
Session
6
7
Figure 4. Objective cards improve
self-management skills
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Continuous use of Objective Cards in practice sessions is
associated with improved physical performance (push-up count, Figure 2) and provides
information on goal-setting and actual performance of individual players and the group as a
whole (Figure 3), enabling better adjustment of the training routine. Objective Cards monitor
individual players’ performance during the year and allow mid-year intervention, if necessary, to
help set performance-adjusted goals (Figure 4). Use of Objective Cards also promotes additional
desirable behaviors e.g. persistence in training, respect for the authority of the trainer and
communication between players.