Table 1 SAAFE principles and recommended strategies

Supportive

• Provide individual skill specific feedback

• Support feelings of autonomy, competence, and social connection

• Provide praise on student effort and improvement

• Acknowledge and reward good sportspersonship

• Demonstrate empathy toward students who appear frustrated or challenged

Active

• Optimize session structure and activity selection (e.g., small-sided games, multiple games/grids and minimal lines)

• Avoid elimination activities

• Include an active warm-up

• Integrate high-intensity ‘bursts’ of activity within typical games and lesson activities

• Employ circuits and rotations

• Complete student registration while students are active

• Reduce transition time by setting up activities while students are active

• Minimize teacher talk and instructions

• Maximize equipment available (e.g., every student with a ball)

Autonomous

• Provide students with opportunities for choice

• Include free play at the start of sessions

• Involve students in creation and modification of activities and rules

• Provide a meaningful rationale for the different activities

• Minimize controlling language

Fair

• Ensure that students are evenly matched in activities

• Modify activities to maximize students’ opportunities for success

• Encourage self-comparison rather than peer-comparison

• De-emphasize competition (e.g. implement point system that rewards team values and not winning)

• Regularly change teams/partners (if necessary) to ensure everyone experiences success

Enjoyable

• Design activities with which students can exhibit choice, feel competent, and also interact with others (e.g., group activities)

• Start and conclude sessions with an enjoyable activity

• Ensure that sessions involve a variety of tasks/activities

• Do not use exercise as punishment

• Use self-selected and motivational music while exercising