Effects of Athletic Competition on the Growth and Development of Junior High School Boys

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of competitive athletics on the growth and development of junior high school boys. The Wetzel Grid was used to evaluate growth and development in terms of body shape, body size, and speed of growth of 366 boys. The general conclusions were: (a) athletes are selected because of their superiority in body sizes and speeds of growth as well as for their skills; (b) intramural sports seemed to have no retarding effect on the growth and development of these boys; (c) to assure growth success for junior high school athletes, the total games per season should not exceed two-thirds the varsity schedule or one game per week.