This article examines the development of social capital through the use and dynamics of different types of stories ("I,""we" and "they") as described by Robert D. Putnam. The data come from a research project in which inactive women participated in a 16-week intervention program of physical exercise, either in the form of football or running. The study shows a positive development of social capital in the two different types of physical activity. The I-stories show themselves to be central to bonding within the two groups and bridging outside the groups (developing and/or creating networks). The study also points to the importance of the activity itself for internal bonding illustrated through we- and they-stories. Our data indicate that team sports, such as football, may have an advantage over individual sports in the development of social capital.

There is consistent evidence that participation in a team sport is associated with improved social and psychological health independent of the type of team sport, age, somatic, or mental health problems. The findings indicate that team sport could be more efficient in promoting health and ensuring exercise participation and continuation than individual sport. However, when utilising team sports for health purposes, precautions must be taken with regard to their inherent competitive nature.

AimTo modify the ‘FIFA 11 for Health’ programme to the European situation, and to assess its effects on health knowledge and well-being in Danish school children.MethodA two-cohort study with seven intervention and two control schools. Of the 546 Danish children (boys 269; girls 277) of mean age 11.1 (±0.4) years from five city and four country-side schools, 402 undertook the ‘FIFA 11 for Health’ programme and 144 acted as controls. As part of each school's PE curriculum, seven intervention schools received a 45 min Play Football period (football skills and 3 vs 3 games) and a 45 min Play Fair period (health issues and football drills) on a weekly-basis for 11 weeks. Control participants continued with their regular school PE activities. Participants completed preintervention and postintervention health knowledge and well-being questionnaires.ResultsOverall, health knowledge increase was significantly (p<0.05) greater for the intervention group (11.9%) than the control group (2.6%). Significant (p<0.05) between-group differences were obtained for 8 of 10 health topics (6.1–20.2%) related to physical activity, nutrition, hygiene and well-being. The social dimension of the well-being questionnaire was significantly (p<0.05) improved in the intervention group compared to the control group, but there were no significant between-group effects for the physical, emotional and school dimensions. Positive reporting about the programme was given by 72.4% of the children and only 4.8% reported negatively.ConclusionsThe ‘FIFA 11 for Health’ programme modified for Europe demonstrated positive effects on children's health knowledge and social dimension of well-being, thereby providing evidence that the football-based health education programme can be used effectively within a European school's curriculum to increase physical activity, well-being and health knowledge.

This study investigated whether the physical fitness and body composition of 10–12-year-old Danish children are related to participation in leisure-time club-based sporting activities. The study involved 544 Danish 10–12-year-old 5th-grade municipal schoolchildren (269 boys and 275 girls, 11.1 ± 0.4 years). After answering a questionnaire about leisure-time sporting activities, the children were divided into four groups: football club participation (FC; n=141), other ball games (OBG; n=42), other sports (OS; n=194), and no sports-club participation (NSC; n=167). The children completed a battery of health and fitness tests, including a 20 m sprint test, a standing long-jump test, the Yo-Yo IR1 children's test (YYIR1C), and body composition, blood pressure, resting heart rate (HRrest), and the flamingo balance test. The children engaged in club-based ball games (FC and OBG) had higher (p<0.05) lean body mass than NSC (FC: 17.5 ± 2.9; OBG: 18.4 ± 2.6; OS: 16.7 ± 2.9; NSC: 16.4 ± 2.8 kg), performed better (p<0.05) in the YYIR1C test (FC: 1083 ± 527; OBG: 968 ± 448; OS: 776 ± 398; NSC: 687 ± 378 m), and had lower (p<0.05) %HRmax after 1, 2, and 3 min of YYIR1C. Moreover, HRrest was lower (p<0.05) for FC than for OS and NSC (FC: 68 ± 9 vs OS: 72 ± 10 and NSC: 75 ± 10 bpm), and lower (p<0.05) for OBG than for NSC (OBG: 70 ± 10 vs NSC: 75 ± 10 bpm). This study found that 10–12-year-old Danish children engaged in club-based football and other ball games had better exercise capacity, lower resting heart rate, and higher muscle mass than children not engaged in leisure-time sports. Thus, participation in club-based leisure-time ball-game activities seems to be of importance for the fitness and health profile of prepubertal children.

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