Confidence in Youth SportsAn Ethnographic Study

ALEXANDRA WHEATLEYBLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 2016 PASSHE Anthropology Conference: April 23rd-24th

Confidence in Youth Sports Confidence in youth sports is an important factor in

how children can be expected to perform later in their athletic careers.

Understanding what helps athletes be confident and what prevents them from being confident during these youth sport experiences is of value to those in the sports community. Such factors include

CoachesParentsPeersIndividual vs. Team Sports

Anthropology of Sport

“Sport in America, as in many countries, is big business, popular culture, and potent politics. It has become its own medium of

communication and has important ramifications for international and

multicultural relationships.

There is no topic that should be of greater interest to social science in general and

anthropology in particular than the study of human sport.”

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IntroductionThis research study was created in Dr. Warner’s Cultural Field Methods class in the Spring semester of 2016.

Ethnographic research was used to analyze how confidence in youth sports is built and maintained.

This presentation focuses on the results of my research.

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Research Question I hypothesized that individualized sports would

develop greater confidence than team sports, because in team sports you rely on your teammates to help you learn a skill or accomplish a goal, whereas in individualized sports, the athlete relies primarily on themselves to succeed in the sport.

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Methods Unobtrusive Observation

At several Bloomsburg University varsity athlete practices and games

Cyberethnography Surveying college

student athletes Interviewing

College student athletes http://www.bloomu.edu/sites/default/files/FieldHockeyAcademics.jpg

People and PlaceCollege student athletes

Facebook pagesPosted survey on student athlete pages

with permission of group administrator Emails

Bloomsburg University student athletes received the survey in their email

Personal connectionsI am a student athlete myself, several

of my fellow teammates shared my survery with student athletes they knew

Sample Snowball sampling 193 student athletes

127 women’s team participants

66 men’s team participants

Wom

en's

Team

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Of the traits below, I identify most with…(Choose Top 3).

Adventurous Independent Cynical Progressive Optimistic Active Confident

Extroverted Dispassionate Up for a

Challenge Enthusiastic Happy Insecure

Conservative Individualistic Pessimistic Charitable Group

Oriented

Of the traits below, I identify most with…(Choose top 3)

111; 42%

89; 33%

66; 25%

Active IndependentHappy

3; 21%

4; 29%7; 50%

Dispassionate PessimisticCynical

Top 3 Bottom 3

How Confident are You?

Not at all Rarely Occasionally Often Very Often0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

I handle new situations with relative comfort and easeI feel postitive and en-ergized about lifeI believe that if I work hard, I will achive my goalsI keep trying, even after others have given upI achieve the goals I set for myself

How Confident are You?

Not at all Rarely Occasionally Often Very Often0

20

40

60

80

100

120

When I face difficulty, I feel hopeless and negativeI relate to people who work very hard, and still do not accomplish their goalsIf something looks difficult, I avoid doing itI need to experience suc-cess early in a process, or I will not continue

51; 54%22; 23%

21; 22%Swimming and Diving

Soccer

Tack and Field

What Sport Do Your Currently Play?

How many years have you participated in this sport?

0 to 2

3 to 6

7 to 11

12 to 16

17 to 21

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80Participants

Year

s

What sports did you play growing up (prior to college)? Please select all that apply.

114; 31%

96; 26%

82; 22%

74; 20%

Top 4

Soccer BasketballTrack and Field Swimming

1; 25%

1; 25%

2; 50%

Bottom 4

Rifle Beach VolleyballFencing Rowing

Youth Sport Experience

020406080

100120140160180200

180 185 185

81

13 8 8

112

Agree Disagree

Youth Sport Experience

020406080

100120140160180200

188135

190

109

558

3

83

Agree Disagree

Current Sport Experience

020406080

100120140160180200

119145

185 180

917347

7 12

100

Agree Disagree

Current Sport Experience

I believe the sport I play is in the category of "Team sports".

I believe the sport I play is in the category of "Individual sports".

I enjoy participating in my sport.0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

173

76

188

20

116

4

Agree Disagree

Participant Observation I took advantage of the several games and practices taking place at Bloomsburg University.

Game and Practices attended:Lacrosse game and warm-up

practiceTrack and Field morning practiceSwim team off season workout

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What was observed…Lacrosse

Warm-UpGoalie warms-up mostly by themselves.Has separate drills from the rest of the team.Works closely with a coach before games.Entire team runs through drills together.

GameThe team has a talent for communicating. The players support each other at every part of the

game, good or bad.http://archive.bloomu.edu/sports/images07/lax/Picciotti-action.jpg

Observation continued…Track and Field Morning Practice

You can see the individualistic aspect of an individual sport being practiced.

The runners do the drills together, but I often noticed the self determination to beat the teammate next to them.

At the end of each workout, teammates high fived or had some words of encouragement for each

other.

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Observation continued…Swim Team: Off Season Workout

The team does not have a designated off season practice.

Swimmers volunteer to come to the pool and workout together.

Similar to Track and Field, swimmers had an air of competition with the swimmer next to them.

Single Swimmer Practice

True test of self-determination.

Set after set, the swimming kept going and continued to swim laps by themselves.

http://www.swimincollege.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Bloomsburg-University-of-Pennsylvania.png

Interviewing

Participants had the option to leave their contact information at the end of the survey

Some participants came on high recommendation from my coaching informants Interview participants were then selected from the

recommended athletes

Interview Questions

Would you consider

yourself a confident athlete? Why? 

Would you consider

yourself a confident

person? Why?  “Yes, I am aware of both my strengths and weaknesses, and I use both to my advantage”

“I never go into a game thinking I’m automatically not going to get any saves”

What sports did you play growing up? 

What sport do you currently play at the

college level?

“Soccer and Track and Field”

“Lacrosse, Volleyball, Soccer, Basketball”

“Track and Field”

“Lacrosse”

“Wrestling, soccer, and baseball”

“Baseball”

Is the sport you currently play a “team

sport” or “individual

sport”? 

Did you play “team sports”,

“individual sports”, or both when

growing up? “Team sport”

– Lacrosse Informant

“Individual Sport”- Track and Field

informant

“Both”-Track and Field informant

“I played team sports only”

-Lacrosse informant

“Both”-Baseball Informant

“Team Sport”-Baseball Informant

What is your definition of

“team sports” and

“individual sports”? 

“Team sports are sports that players must rely on other players in order to succeed”

“Individual sports are sports where players must rely on themselves more in order to succeed”

Did you have a positive

experience playing youth

sports? 

Did your coaches make you feel

confident in your athletic ability in

youth sports? And now? 

Did your parents make you feel

confident in your athletic ability in

youth sports? And now? 

“When I first started playing youth lacrosse, my first coach would make practice miserable.”

“I stuck with it though after I had a different coach who encouraged me and coached me differently and it eventually led me to where I am today”

“My dad was always my biggest supporter”

Did you rely on your

teammates to boost your

confidence in sports? And

Now? 

“ No, because I try to rely on myself more, but hearing they cheer me on certainly helps.”

“In college, I think I rely on my teammates the most. “

“When I am down, they can tell, and they will pull me right out of the slump I am in.”

“By pushing each other and working hard together, I guess you could say that I rely on them.”

More than half of the student athletes surveyed said they played team sports growing up, or prior to college.

I conclude that team sports are an important interaction for children to have in their youth sport experience to build life-long confidence.

Children have to communicate with their teammates, work together to achieve a similar goal, and rely on each other for support.

I believe parents see these activities as important interaction for their children to have in order to be confident.

Conclusions

Future Research Questions

Why do parents choose the sports they do, for their children to play?

How many parents make the choice for their children?

Do parents let their children choose the sports they want to play?

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Acknowledgements Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Athletic Department

Mike McFarland – Athletic Director Brenda Pitonyak – Athletic Department Secretary

My fellow Bloomsburg University student athletes and classmates Dr. Faith Warner, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, College of

Liberal Arts College of Liberal Arts, Bloomsburg University of Pennyslvania

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