Examining the Effects of Soccer Participation on Cognitive Flexibility in High School Students Using Task-Switching Paradigms

Cognitive flexibility (CF), a core component of executive functioning, is essential for adaptive decision-making, attentional control, and problem solving in dynamic environments. Previous research suggests that participation in open-skill sports may enhance executive functions due to constant task switching and perceptual demands. The purpose of this study was to examine whether adolescent soccer players demonstrate higher cognitive flexibility than non-athletes. It was hypothesized that soccer players would exhibit higher levels of cognitive flexibility compared to non-soccer players due to the constant task switching involved in soccer. The present study examined differences in cognitive flexibility between adolescent soccer athletes and non-soccer players using three validated measures; the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST), a cued task-switching paradigm, and uncued task-switching paradigm. Task scores were normalized and combined into a composite CF score for each participant. Data was collected from forty high school students divided into four groups: girls soccer (n = 10), boys soccer (n = 10), girls non-soccer (n = 10), and boys non-soccer (n = 10). Results indicated that soccer athletes demonstrated higher composite CF scores than non-soccer players. Boys soccer showed the highest mean CF score (M=0.57), followed by girls soccer (M=0.53), while girls non-soccer (M=0.17) and boys non-soccer (0.15) scored significantly lower. Soccer athletes exhibited fewer errors on the WCST and lower switch costs on both cued and uncued task-switching paradigms, indicating superior shifting and cognitive control. These findings support existing literature suggesting that participation in open-skill sports is associated with enhanced executive functioning.