Adult and Child Perceptions of Childrens Motivations to Participate in Youth Sports Daniel Frankl, Ph.D. Department of Kinesiology and Nutritional science California State University, Los Angeles

INTRODUCTION l Describing the Problem l What has already been done and what have we learned from it? l Why was there a need for another study on attitudes about youth sports programs?

The Problem l Adult supervised non-school youth sports programs are rapidly growing and cater to some 25 million kids. l Almost 50% of the children ages 5-16 participate in youth sports. l 90% of parents encourage their children to engage in sports.

The Problem (continued) l 60% of parents are involved in youth sports programs. l 85% of parents have concerns about youth sports programs l Physical education professionals have voiced serious concerns about non-school adult supervised youth sport leagues.

HYPOTHESES l Over all children, regardless of income or ethnicity, will rank self-regulated items (e.g., fun, learning new skills, improving, and team work) ahead of other- controlled items (e.g., winning, trophies, be popular, and get to a higher level of competition). l Overall parents, regardless of income or ethnicity, will closely predict their childs motivations. l Children will differ in their motivations to participate in youth sports based on age, gender, length of involvement, and type of activity.

What has already been done and what have we learned from it? A common sense approach to studying the value of youth sports has been to examine childrens motivations to join, participate enthusiastically, and/or drop out. A number of studies probed childrens motivation to participate in youth sports programs: Ewing & Seefeldt (1990) Gill, Gross, & Huddlestone (1981) Gould, Feltz, Weiss, & Petlichkoff (1982) Griffin (1978) McElroy & Kirkendal (1980) Sapp & Haubenstricker (1978) Swell (1992) Wankel & Kreisel (1985)

McElroy and Kirkendal (1980) 2,000+ children, average age 11.9 selected one of the following as their most important reason for playing a sport: l to play as well as you can (personal performance) l to play fairly, by the rules at all times (fair play) l everyone on the team should get to play (total participation) l to defeat your opponent or the other team (winning orientation)

McElroy and Kirkendal (1980) Most Important Reason for Playing Sports Males Females Winning13.5% 04.6% Personal Perform.51.0% 48.3% Fair Play24.4% 37.6% Total Participation11.0% 09.4%

American Youth and Sport Participation Study Ewing & Seefeldt (1990) The Athletic Footwear Association commissioned Drs. Martha Ewing and Vern Seefeldt of the Youth Sport Institute at Michigan State University to investigate childrens reasons for participation and/or dropping out from nonschool youth programs. Boys and girls (N=10,000) were asked: è Why they participate? è Why they quit? è How they feel about winning?

American Youth and Sport Participation Study Ewing & Seefeldt (1990) Highlights of the Study: l Sport participation, and the desire to participate in sports, decline sharply and steadily between ages 10 and 18. l Fun is a pivotal reason for being in a sport, and lack of fun is a leading reason for dropping out. l Young participants do not consider winning as a major benefit of sport competition. l Motivations to participate differ greatly within and in between athletes.

CHILDRENS RANK ORDER OF THE MOST IMPORTANT REASONS FOR PLAYING THEIR BEST SCHOOL SPORT OR DROPPING OUT FROM YOUTH SPORTS CHILDRENS RANK ORDER OF THE MOST IMPORTANT REASONS FOR PLAYING THEIR BEST SCHOOL SPORT OR DROPPING OUT FROM YOUTH SPORTS REASON FOR PLAYINGREASON FOR DROPPING OUT 01TO HAVE FUN01 I LOST INTEREST 02TO IMPROVE MY SKILLS02 I WAS NOT HAVING FUN 03TO STAY IN SHAPE03 IT TOOK TOO MUCH TIME 04TO DO SOMETHING 04 COACH WAS A POOR IM GOOD AT TEACHER 05FOR THE EXCITEMENT OF05 TOO MUCH PRESSURE (WORRY) COMPETITION 06TO GET EXERCISE06 WANTED NON-SPORT ACTIVITY 07TO PLAY AS PART OF A07 I WAS TIRED OF IT TEAM 08FOR THE CHALLENGE OF08 NEEDED MORE STUDY TIME COMPETITION 09TO LEARN NEW SKILLS09 COACH PLAYED FAVORITES 10TO WIN10 SPORT WAS BORING 11 OVER-EMPHASIS ON WINNING Reproduced from Ewing, M. E., & Seefeldt, V. (1990). American youth sports participation: A study of 10,000 students and their feelings about sport. North Palm Beach, FL: Athletic Footwear Association.

THE 12 MOST IMPORTANT REASONS I PLAY MY BEST SCHOOL SPORT BOYSGIRLS 01TO HAVE FUN01 TO HAVE FUN 02TO IMPROVE SKILLS02 TO STAY IN SHAPE 03FOR THE EXCITEMENT 03 TO GET EXERCISE OF COMPETITION 04TO DO SOMETHING04 TO IMPROVE SKILLS IM GOOD AT 05TO STAY IN SHAPE05 TO DO SOMETHING I'M GOOD AT 06FOR THE CHALLENGE06 TO BE PART OF A TEAM OF COMPETITION 07TO BE PART OF A TEAM07 FOR THE EXCITEMENT OF COMPETITION 08TO WIN08 TO LEARN NEW SKILLS 09TO GO TO A HIGHER09 FOR THE TEAM SPIRIT LEVEL OF COMPETITION 10TO GET EXERCISE10 FOR THE CHALLENGE OF COMPETITION 11TO LEARN NEW SKILLS11 TO GO TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF COMPETITION 12FOR THE TEAM SPIRIT12 TO WIN Reproduced from Ewing, M. E., & Seefeldt, V. (1990)

THE 6 MOST IMPORTANT CHANGES I WOULD MAKE TO GET INVOLVED AGAIN IN A SPORT I DROPPED I would play again if… BOYS GIRLS 01PRACTICES WERE 01 PRACTICES WERE MORE FUN MORE FUN 02I COULD PLAY MORE02 NO CONFLICT WITH STUDIES 03COACHES UNDERSTOOD 03 COACHES UNDERSTOOD PLAYERS BETTER 04 NO CONFLICT WITH 04 NO CONFLICT WITH SOCIAL STUDIES LIFE 05COACHES WERE BETTER05 I COULD PLAY MORE TEACHERS 06NO CONFLICT WITH06 COACHES WERE BETTER SOCIAL LIFE TEACHERS Reproduced from Ewing, M. E., & Seefeldt, V. (1990)

METHOD Subjects (N=566) Mothers (N=108), fathers (N=105), boys (N=170), and girls (N=171) from the Los Angeles area were surveyed during the youth leagues season (Total = 554 or 97.88%). Ethnic Distribution African American (N=16; 2.87%) Asian (N=105; 18.85%) Latino/Latina (N=313; 56.19%) Caucasian (N=90; 16.16%) Pacific Islander (N=5; 0.90%) Native American (N=7; 1.25%) Filipino (N=21; 3.77%) TOTAL = 557 (99.99% / 98.4%)

Youth Sports (N=509; 89.93%) Baseball/Softball Basketball Football Soccer Volleyball Drill team Swimming Track Tennis Other Fem. Male %

Parent Income (N=213; 84.04%) Under $10, $10,000-$14, $15,000-$19, $20,000-$24, $25,000-$29, $30,000-$34, $35,000-$39, $40,000-$44, $45,000-$49, Over $50, Total % 15 N N %

Instrument Child and parent forms each including 18 statements about participation in ones best sport outside school were used (adapted from the AFA 1990, landmark study). Participants checked each item on a 1-7 (not at all important /.../ of utmost importance) Likert scale. Participants were also asked to select the one MOST important reason… from the 18 original statements (see handout). 16

Procedures Procedures l A uniform format explaining what needs to be done was used l Data was collected from children and their parents whenever possible l Yellow forms were handed out to children 5-18 (investigator read statements to non- readers; a Spanish translation was available when needed). Children were instructed to establish a quick gut feeling about each item and then proceed and carefully mark their choice. 17

Procedures Procedures l Parents completed a Blue form and were instructed to, without consulting with their child, indicate what...to their best knowledge their childs choice would have been for all items. l Participants were instructed to simply copy the ONE statement they felt was MOST important, or add a new reason. l Data was collected court-side on practice days and forms were coded for parent/child match pairing (no names).

RESULTS DAD BOY MOM GIRL 01 Q14 (6.30) Q14 (6.14) Q14 (6.22) Q14 (6.19) 02 Q07 (5.84) Q01 (5.81) Q07 (5.99) Q04 (6.00) 03 Q01 (5.65) Q07 (5.68) Q05 (5.87) Q01 (5.88) 04 Q05 (5.65) Q09 (5.66) Q11 (5.86) Q07 (5.87) 05 Q18 (5.52) Q06 (5.64) Q08 (5.62) Q18 (5.83) Q14 -- To have fun Q7 -- To learn new skills Q1 -- To improve her/his skills Q4 -- To stay in shape Q5 -- To play as part of a team Q11 -- To get exercise Q6 -- For the excitement of competition Q8 -- To meet new friends Q9 -- To do something he/she is good at Q18 -- For the team spirit

RESULTS DAD BOY MOM GIRL 10 Q03 (5.52) Q02 (4.88) Q03 (4.78) 14 Q16 (4.70) Q16 (4.71) 15 Q16 (4.60) Q10 (4.76) Q13 (4.56) Q12 (4.56) 16 Q03 (4.38) Q16 (4.56) Q10 (3.91) Q02 (4.40) 17 Q10 (3.92) Q12 (4.49) Q03 (3.87) Q10 (4.27) 18 Q17 (3.83) Q17 (4.44) Q17 (3.58) Q17 (3.64) Q2 -- To be with her/his friends Q3 -- To win Q10 -- For trophies and recognition Q12 -- To feel important Q13 -- For the challenge of competition Q16 -- He/she likes the coaches Q17 --To be popular by being a good athlete

Discussion l To have fun was the clear first choice for Moms, Dads, Girls and Boys. l To learn new skills was the second choice for Dads & Moms, and 3 rd & 4 th for Boys and Girls respectively. The findings by earlier studies (e.g., Ewing & Seefeldt, 1990; McElroy & Kirkendal, 1980) were replicated in this study. l Winning came in 10 th place for Boys, 13 th for Girls, 16 th for Dads and 17 th for Moms. This finding is very consistent with the existing literature.

Discussion l To stay in shape and To get exercise were top choices for Girls and Moms. When asked to indicate what they liked least about their best sport, many Girls indicated their dislike of exercising, sweating, and getting tired. It appears that Girls in this study felt pressured to choose To stay in shape but did not like to engage in activities that lead to improved physical fitness. Societal pressures on girls to look a certain way are apparent.

l Over all children, regardless of income or ethnicity, will rank self-regulated items (e.g., fun, learning new skills, improving, and team work) ahead of other- controlled items (e.g., winning, trophies, be popular, and get to a higher level of competition).

Conclusions l If it aint fun children wont play. l For kids to have fun they must improve their skills. l Parents seem to want what we the experts consider appropriate. So lets work together. l Fun, improving skills, playing as a team, getting in shape…, are all universally endorsed by all levels of analysis. So lets concentrate on the content of the programs and not the ethnic, social, and or economic factors. l Coaches seem to try too hard. Lets get involved and show them the way!

Questions& Comments Comments

List of Reasons for Participation 1 To improve her/his skills 2 To be with her/his friends 3 To win 4 To stay in shape 5 To play as part of a team 6 For the excitement of competition 7 To learn new skills 8 To meet new friends 9 To do something he/she is good at

List of Reasons for Participation 10 For trophies and recognition 11 To get exercise 12 To feel important 13 For the challenge of competition 14 To have fun 15 To get to a higher level of competition 16 He/she likes the coaches 17 To be popular by being a good athlete 18 For the team spirit

Overall Reason for Participation in Youth Sports l Of all the reasons listed above, what is the MOST important reason for your child playing in her/his best sport outside of school? Please write the reason on the lines below: ____________________________

Strongest Reason for not Participating in Youth Sports l What do you like least about playing in your best sport outside of school? Please write the reason on the lines below: ____________________________

References l Ewing, M. E. & Seefeldt, V. (1990). American youth and sports participation: A study of 10,000 students and their feelings about sport. North Palm Beach, FL: Athletic Footwear Association. (Sponsored by: Athletic Footwear Association __ AFA, 200 Castlewood Drive, North Palm Beach, Florida 33408; Gregg Hartley, Executive Director, phone # _1161). l Gill, D., Gross, J. B., & Huddlestone, S. (1981). Participation motivation in youth sport. International Journal in Sport Psychology, 14, 1-14.

References l Gould, D., Feltz, D. L., Weiss, M., & Petlichkoff, L. M. (1982). Participating motives in competitive youth swimmers. In T. Orlick, J. T. Partington, & J. H. Salmela (Eds.) Mental training for coaches and athletes (pp ). Ottawa: Coaching Association of Canada. l Griffin (1978). Why children participate in youth sports. Paper presented at American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER) Convention, Kansas City, Missouri.

References l Orlick, T. (1974). The athletic dropout–A high price of inefficiency. CAHPER Journal, Nov.- Dec., l Pooley, J. (1981). Dropouts from sports: A case study of boys age-group soccer. Paper presented at American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Convention, Boston, Massachusetts.

References l Sapp, M., & Haubenstricker, J. (1978). Motivation for joining and reasons for not continuing in youth sports programs in Michigan. Paper presented at American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER) Convention, Kansas City, Missouri. l Teenagers motivations for sports participation help predict lifelong habits. (1990). North Palm Beach, FL: Athletic Footware Association.

References l Wankel, L. M., & Kreisel, P. (1985). Factors underlying enjoyment of youth sports: Sport and age group comparisons. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7,