Influence Of Location And Gender On Performance Of Selected Motor Skills Among Secondary School Student
[AWKA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, ANAMBRA STATE]

as aggression, dominance, self-change, self-confidence, assertiveness, bluntness are expected of males. Their female counterparts on the other hand must be gentle, submissive, emotional, passive, tactful, unassertive. It is these societal assigned roles and expectations that gave rise to the gender issues that we talk about in education. Experiment has shown that males and females are not born with some of the characteristics mentioned above. Rather, these characteristics are learned. They result from the socializing processes that children go through from birth. For instance, in a typical home, a male child is encouraged to fight back and retrieve his toy when attacked. The female child on the other hand is helped to retrieve her toy. A female child is given soft toys like made-up-dolls, sewing kits, cooking utensils, while a male child will be given cars and guns. This makes the girl child to start from birth to see herself as different.
Hensley and East (1982) stated that the performance differences between men and women have long been a subject of interest to coaches and physical educators. The relative performance of boys and girls at comparative ages may be attributed to factors like social-cultural influence, anatomical and physiological differences. Cureton, Hednsley and Tiburzi (1979) outlined that because of the differences between men and women in body structure and physiological capacities, women often cannot perform at the same level as men in tasks requiring high level of strength, muscular endurance or physical work capacity. Obertuffer and Ulrich (1970) further agreed that the structural and functional differences influence the sexes differently for certain aspects of learning at various stages. The structural and functional variances that favour the males and females are found to be superior in those motor skills requiring balance and flexibility whereas males excel in those motor skills requiring speed, strength, power and agility (Conrad, Vern, & Philips 1976, & Branta 1982).
Furthermore, each individual in all of mankind’s races learns motor skills in his own unique way and according to his own peculiar patterns. Some may make no apparent progress for some time, while others may learn quickly at first and then reach a leveling of plateau, then others may improve steadily and gradually until they can perform a skill very well. In research carried   out to   determine   the   segmental body weights of men and women, Adrian, (1972) discovered that women had greater weight in the pelvis, abdomen, and thighs but lesser weight in the thorax as compared with men. This heavier thigh and less muscular mass in the female increase the amount of inertia or resistance to rotary movement than males on a proportional muscular force basis, thereby reduce their speed of movement. This disadvantage interferes with the running ability of the girls. He further opined that there is likely to be a marked lateral sway of the pelvis, in all movements of the lower extremities. With the extent of this oscillation determining the speed of the individual in getting over the ground, the girls are unable to run far as the boys of the same strength. Furthermore, Williams (1990) observed that women do not use their muscles so rapidly as men and the reactive time is longer in females.
Bucher (1979) and Branta (1982) asserted that males have a greater strength in the shoulder girdle, which could prove useful in throwing. They added that males have better- developed muscles than females, a situation favouring the males in a great variety of gross motor activities. They stated that the center of gravity of male is different from that of the female because of his greater height, broader shoulder, and narrower   hip   and   this   may   facilitate   certain   types   of movement patterns, example, jump. Hebbelinck and Day (1979), and Oberteuffer and Ulrich (1970), stated that the male has a larger heart rate than female and this difference accounts for the faster heart rate in women. Great red blood corpuscle count and greater percentage of haemoglobin are found in male. The blood pressure of the average man is 5 to 10 millimeters higher than that of women. These mean that there is resulting effect upon women cardiac endurance. Again, men can generally last longer in activities requiring strength and endurance than women. They pointed out that the thoracic cavity and lungs of women are smaller than of the men, but their respiratory rate upon exertion is less.
Okeke (2001) started that our society does not expect women to be in science or excel in science and technology as well as physical education. She added that when you ask children in lower primary school to draw a scientist and work, you will get the drawing of a male scientist and rarely female scientist. She also reported that if a visit to Engineering Department or a construction site department reveals a female professional being the Head or Chief Executive the reaction will be a surprise. She then concluded that the masculine sports Federation will concertedly pursue the twin objective of “Broad-basing of sports and Achieving Excellence in sports at the National and International Level”. Sports activities, in which the country has potential strength and competitive advantage, need to be vigorously promoted. Towards this end, sports and physical education would be integrated more effectively with the education curriculum. While the broad basing of sports will, primarily remain a responsibility of the state government the union government will actively supplement their efforts in this direction and for taping the latent areas. Considering the key role of sports in national life and for inculcating national pride in the younger generation, the objective of broad-basing, that is, universalisation or mass participation in sports assumes special significance. It is imperative to ensure that the educational institutions, schools and collages in both rural and urban areas throughout the country are, and remain fully associated with this programme. Efforts will be made to promote requisite infrastructure and for the identification of talent through an appropriate competition structure in the rural areas.
The disadvantaged and remote parts of the country
which appear to merits special consideration under various schemes will also be made for tapping such potential as swimming in coastal areas.
While existing play fields and stadia, both in rural and urban areas, will be maintained for sports purposes, the introduction of suitable legislation may be considered for proving open areas to promote sports equipment of high quality. While the approach to import / purchase of equipment would, no doubt, bear the long-term interests of the indigenous sports goods manufacture in mind. Incentives, recognition and financial security to distinguished sports persons during and after their sporting careers, and also the youth in serious purist of sport activities must be motivated and encouraged. Adequate assistance will be extended for insurance cover and medical treatment in the event of such eventuality / requirement. Finally, suitable incentives will be provided to Coaches, Judges and Referees for developing skills and enriching their experiences.
Rural Students Motor Skill Performance
Rural means relating to country areas as opposed to large town (BBC British Broadcasting Company English