ADAPTED FOOTBALL PROGRAM TO DEVELOP THE MOTOR SKILLS OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

ABSTRACT Adapted physical activity and sport is the art and science of development, implementation and control of a specially designed program in a given type of sport for children with various disabilities. The purpose of the present study is to develop and prove the effectiveness of an adapted football program for developing the motor skills of children with intellectual disabilities. The subject of research is the effectiveness of the adapted soccer program, and the subject of the research is the motor qualities of children with intellectual disabilities. Methodology: Participants in the study are a total of 20 children with intellectual disabilities from the SC Adapted Sports. They are divided into two groups: Experimental - includes 10 children participating in a specialized program in adapted football and Control - includes 10 children participating in standard activities in adapted physical activity. Classes were held twice a week according to a previously prepared program that met the specific needs of the children being taught. We used a 20 / 40 m field for mini football with high-quality artificial grass in the „Green Sport“ Sports Complex, Sofia. The experimental program includes a variety of motor actions, with which the goal and tasks of the study were realized. Her duration of application was a total of 9 months. Results: After the applied statistical computer processing, an analysis of the working material of our study was made. To objectify the results of the experiment, the data were systematized and subjected to variation and comparative analysis. Based on the obtained results and their analysis, we found that the experimented program on adapted football for developing the motor qualities of children with intellectual disabilities is effective, observing a tendency to improve the studied indicators of physical ability and functional state. The selection of appropriate tests was fully tailored to the individual characteristics of the children in the target group.