IOSR Journal of Sports and Physical Education (IOSR-JSPE) e-ISSN: 2347-6737, p-ISSN: 2347-6745, Volume 8, Issue 1, (Jan. – Feb. 2021), PP 23-27 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/6737-08012327 www.iosrjournals.org 23 | Page A Descriptive Study of Wrestling Practice in the Youth School Games in Rio De Janeiro Igor Gabriel Prado Mancebo 1 , Alba Iara Cae Rodrigues 2 , Luiz Felipe Machado Pinto 1 , Marcelo Moreira Antunes 1 1 (Physical Education Institute / Federal Fluminense University, Brazil) 2 (Physical Education College / George Mason University, USA) Abstract: Background: In Brazil the highest competitive achievement for youth in school age is to win the ‘Youth School Games’ (YSG).The YSG has a sport-education perspective focus thought to encourage a pedagogical perspective for developing young athletes. The aim of the present study was to describe the overall practice aspects of the students who participated in the Rio de Janeiro selective of the 2018 YSG: (a) training location,(b) period of practice, and (c)previous sports experience. The research question we sought to answer was: Do the wrestling competitors of the YSG from the state of Rio de Janeiro practice wrestling in school environment as suggested by the sporting event? Materials and Methods: In this quantitative research, 67 students from twenty schools participating in the selective for the YSG in Rio de Janeiro answered to a questionnaire in 2018. By descriptively analyzing the data, we found that 85.1% of the competitors participating in the YSG in 2018 trained wrestling. Results: The competitors who practiced wrestling trained at two public schools’ Experimental Olympic Gymnasium (EOG) (44.8%), and in sports clubs (34.3%). The competitors who did not practice wrestling trained judo in clubs (20.9%). All the wrestling competitors came from schools from Rio de Janeiro and Niterói. Conclusion: In conclusion, from the 20 schools present at the YSG, only two public schools offered wrestling practice. Thus, students from 18 schools needed to look for other environments to practice wrestling. Therefore, students seek to practice wrestling, which can be an opening for developing new projects to widen the opportunity for youth to practice wrestling and catch the attention of institutions such as the Ministry of Sport. Key Word: Physical Education, School Sports, Martial Arts, Youth Sports. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 05-01-2021 Date of Acceptance: 20-01-2021 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Physical education (PE) and sports can have positive and profound outcomes for youth with multiple educational benefits including the whole personal development spectrum: the physical, affective, social, and cognitive aspects of the practitioner (Kirk, 2013).It is noteworthy that PE needs to take different forms and pedagogical perspectives to overcome the current traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’, sport technique-based form to fulfill its potential of providing positive experiences that encourage students to engage in lifelong physical activity (Kirk, 2013). Furthermore, school PE plays an important role in fostering students' interest in sports (Galahue, Ozmun and Goodway, 2013). Students who are around 13 to 15 years old are considered by Galahue, Ozmun and Goodway (2013) suitable to engage in a sports specialization process (Côté, 1999). The National Common Curricular Base (NCCB) in Brazil is an official document issued by the Brazilian government defining the nationally mandatory basic school curriculum. This document contains all the contents and subjects that should be taught in basic and public schools in all disciplines. Following the guidelines of the NCCB, the PE curriculum should include many different practices such as games, sports, dances, combat sports, and adventure sports (Brasil, 2018). Although included in the curriculum contents of PE, combat sports are still not widely practiced in school PE, mainly due to the need of better professional development of PE teachers, lack of adequate infrastructure in schools, and negative stereotypes that are still present in the Brazilian culture about these practices (Ferreira, 2006; Rufino and Darido, 2012, Rodrigues and Antunes, 2019). Notwithstanding these constraints, students are encouraged to participate in competitions representing their schools throughout the year. Thus, in addition to being part of the school curriculum, combat sports are also part of students' competitive activities. Several sporting events at the national, state, or regional level, contemplate school sports and include combat modalities such as judo and wrestling. The Youth School Games