The PAPA Project at the European College of Sports Sciences 17th Annual Congress

In July 2012, members of the PAPA project research team attended the European College of Sports Sciences 17th annual congress in the idyllic setting of Bruges, one of Belgium’s finest cities. 

Set in the Oud Sint-Jan congress centre, a former medieval hospital, the well-attended congress provided an opportunity for PAPA project researchers to disseminate their work to scholars across all fields of sports science. A total of 6 oral and poster presentations directly related to the PAPA project were delivered during the four days of the conference. 

First to present was Sally Fenton (PhD student in the University of Birmingham PAPA team), who delivered a composed and well executed talk on the relationship between the coach-created environment, athlete motivation and objective physical activity. As a contender in the prestigious Young Investigator Award (YIA), Sally was asked to present a second time on the closing day of the conference and was delighted to win 2nd prize in this esteemed award. The YIA recognises excellence in scientific research conducted by early career researchers. Sally’s data was collected during the pilot phase of the PAPA project.

On Thursday afternoon, Nathan Smith (PhD student, University of Birmingham (UK) PAPA team), gave a presentation during the first YIA sport psychology poster session. Nathan presented data that examined the difference in the objective coach-created environment created during training and match situations. The observation instrument used is being developed as part of the PAPA project and this research will contribute towards the validation of the measure.  

Following a good representation from PAPA researchers on Thursday, more high-quality research was presented during both oral and poster sessions on Friday. In the early afternoon, Yannis Tzioumakis (PhD student, University of Thessaly (Greece) PAPA team), and Charalampos Krommidas (PhD student, University of Thessaly (Greece) PAPA team), nicely presented their research to an interested and varied audience. Using the previously mentioned observation instrument, Yannis presented research that examined the consistency of the objective coach-created environment created during training sessions in football. Subsequently, Charalampos provided descriptive information on the differences between objective physical activity levels of youth soccer players in the UK, Greece and France. Later on Friday, Charlotte Merrett (University of Birmingham (UK) PAPA team) gave a fascinating talk on the relationship between team cohesion, coaching environments, need satisfaction and well-being in team sport athletes. The evening was nicely finished with a PAPA project team meal.

Several other members of the European-wide PAPA project research team also presented data from additional projects during the congress, namely Dr. Eleanor Quested (PAPA Project Manager, University of Birmingham, UK), Dr. Nikos Zourbanos (University of Thessaly (Greece) PAPA team), Lorena Gonzalez (PhD student, University of Valencia (Spain) PAPA team), and Aurelie Van Hoye (PhD student, University Joseph Fourier (France) PAPA team).  

The team were also accompanied and pleased to be supported by Professor Joan Duda (Project Director, University of Birmingham, UK) who sits on the scientific board of the ECSS, and Professor Isabel Balaguer (Professor of Social Psychology, University of Valencia (Spain) PAPA team). 
All of the PAPA-related research was well received and contributed nicely to a conference traditionally dominated by the physiological and biochemical divisions of sport and exercise science.

The titles and authors of the presentations directly related to the PAPA project are detailed below:

• Coach-provided Autonomy Support, Intrinsic Motivation and Enjoyment as Predictors of Objectively Measured Physical Activity Levels in Grassroots Footballers. Fenton, S.A.M., Duda, J.L., Barrett, T.G., Quested, E.
• Differences in the Coach-Created Psychological Environment Across Training and Competition in Youth Sport. Smith, N., Quested, E., Appleton, P., Duda, J.
• Consistency of The Environmental Dimensions of an Observational Instrument Assessing Coach Initiated Motivational Climate. Tzioumakis, Y., Papaioannou, A., Digelidis, N., Zourbanos, N., Krommidas, H., Keramidas, P.
• Comparison of Objectively Measured Physical Activity Levels of Youth Soccer Players between France, England and Greece. Krommidas, C., Van Hoye, A., Fenton, S.A.M., Galanis, E., Bosselut, G., Duda, J.L., Keramidas, P., Nicaise, V., Barrett, T.G., Zourbanos, N., Heuze, J.P., Papaioannou, A.
• Interrelationships between Team Cohesion, Coaching Environment, Need Satisfaction, And Wellbeing in Hockey Players. Merrett, C.K., Duda, J.L.

This news story was contributed by Nathan Smith - University of Birmingham. For more information about this story or other PAPA news, please contact  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .