CHOICE OF PARTICULAR SPORTS ACTIVITIES AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL PUPILS
There is a view that playing sports is positively related to pupils' academic achievement. Results of studies worldwide indicate this correlation, while few studies have been done in Bosnia and Herzegovina on this problem. The current study aims to expand on findings from previous studies by examining associations between (1) mode: active vs. recreational); (2) type: individual vs. team based and (3) a particular kind of sports and academic achievement particularly math achievement among middle school children. Population involves middle school pupils in two urban areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina and research sample consists of 1036 female and 1055 male pupils wanting to take part in study voluntarily. Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon test were conduced to obtain results. Results show that middle school pupils who are actively involved in sports have better overall midterm academic success as well as better mathematics achievement compared to those who are involved in sports recreationally or not at all (p < 0.001). On the other hand, differences do not occur between pupils who are engaged in team or individual sports. Also, pupils who practice football were found to have lower school performance compared to pupils who practice some of the other sports.