Attitudes and Perceptions of Children on Winning and Fun

Attitudes and Perceptions of Children on Winning and Fun: Findings from Grade School Children on Youth Sports Participation Crystal Clark, Timothy Mirtz & Leon Greene

Abstract Organized sport activities among grade school children have grown in recent years. One concern that arises from participation in organized sports is the emphasis being placed on winning through parental, coaching and peer influences. Some critics of organized youth sports have pointed out that the emphasis is more on winning instead of having fun. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the motivations of children for entering into youth sports activities. The Participants Questionnaire: Players Reasons for Participating (PRPQ) instrument was utilized. The PRPQ ascertains through questions as to the motivations of children to enter into youth sporting activities. A total of 120 questionnaires were distributed equally through four grade level sub-groups (fifth grade through eighth grade) with the attempt to distribute an equal proportion to both males and females in each sub-group. A total of 100 valid surveys were completed by young athletes from fifth through eighth grades. Gender distribution was 51% males and 49% females. Reasons why children joined a particular team were to improve skill and have fun (36%) and being with friends playing (23%). Sixty-eight percent of all children believed that team members do not put pressure on them to win while 83% did not feel that parents pressured them to win. Likewise, 77% of the children did not feel pressured to win by coaches. Boys felt more pressure by coaches to win than girls (29% vs. 18%). Sixty-nine percent of respondents did not believe there was too much emphasis on winning. Ninety percent of the children believed that having fun was more important than winning. The findings from this sample indicated that children were participating in youth sports for fun and enjoyment. Pressure to win and emphasis on winning from coaches was not the overriding perception among children as a reason to participate. These results dispel notions that children perceive feeling pressure to win by parents and coaches. Further research into the phenomenon of child perceptions on youth sports is needed particularly in the area of why they participate.

Introduction In the United States, sport has risen from informal play to more structured activities with rules, officials, and governing bodies. What may have begun as recreational activities intended to help children increase physical activity and participate in enjoyable activities for learning has instead become centered on winning, losing, and competing. Historically, sports were used as a diversion for young boys to keep them from creating problems in their idle time during the early part of the 20th century (Seefeldt & Ewing, 1996). The adage “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” was invoked to keep young boys from getting into trouble and offering them venues to channel energy into a positive format. During the growth of individual school districts, most activities were school sponsored which attempted to instill pride to those who participated and foster a sense of community (Roberts & Olson, 1989). Yet, the development of organized youth activities along with a strong social message of winning may have taken the concept of fun out of the youth sports equation. According to Lumpkin, Stoll & Beller (2003), fun, socialization, and development of moral values started to erode as young athletes learned that “winning-at-all-costs” was present in some leagues. Gerdy (2002) pointed out that what children observed and learned through their athletic experiences were often lessons they applied throughout their lives. There are some concerns that youth sports, through the influence of sports directors, coaches, and parents, are placing a greater emphasis on winning and competition than on physical fitness and the enjoyment of playing. It is not uncommon to see an emphasis of organized youth sports placed on winning and which creates a perception that winning is more important than playing for fun. There are news stories depicting parents pushing their child to succeed at all costs and stressing success above and beyond the child’s normal and natural maturation. Does this give an accurate perception of why children enter youth sports activities? Is it possible that the youth of today play to win and become number one or do they play strictly to have fun? The purpose of this study was to identify those motivational factors for competing in organized youth sports.

Methodology A questionnaire was distributed to 30 students in each of the four grade levels selected. Students in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades were selected to participate in the study. Each gender was represented as equally as possible within each grade. A questionnaire entitled “Participants Questionnaire: Players Reasons for Participating” (PRPQ) was utilized. The PRPQ asked participants to indicate their ages and grade levels and consisted of the following questions. 1. What are the reasons you joined the team you play on? 2. Identify the main reason you play sports. 3. Do team members put pressure on you to win? 4. Do your parents put pressure on you to win? 5. Does your coach put pressure on you to win? 6. Do you believe there is too much emphasis on winning? 7. What is more important to you: winning or having fun?

Participants had to meet three inclusion criteria. First, they had to be entering the fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth grade in the fall, 2003. Second, they had to be on one competitive sports team during the summer. Third, a parent and/or guardian had to sign a consent form before the child could participate in the study. Parents, guardians, and coaches were not allowed to be present when participants responded to the questionnaire. All questionnaires were distributed at two locations in Lawrence, Kansas. Both locations were venues for organized youth sports programs.

Findings A majority of participants fell into the age range of 10 to 13 years. It was determined that 30 surveys from the study were invalid leaving a total of 100. Gender distribution was 51% male and 49% female. The breakdown of valid surveys was 22 participants from the fifth grade, 26 from the sixth grade, 28 from the seventh grade and 24 from the eighth grade level. Age distribution was 26 surveys for 11 and 12 year olds with 22 and 21 surveys for ages 10 and 13 years of age respectively. The seven questions of the PRPQ were placed into the following categories: reasons for joining a team (questions 1 and 2), pressures to win (questions 3, 4, and 5), and emphasis on winning (questions 6 and 7).

For question 1 (Table 1), participants were asked to choose any answer they felt applied. The possible answers were as follows: because my friends play on the team, my parents want me to, to improve skill level, coach asked me to, and/or I want to have fun. The most common answer was a combination of responses “to improve my skill level” and “I want to have fun.” The next most common answer was a combination of responses such as “friends play on the team”, “to improve skill level”, and “I want to have fun.” On question 2 (Table 1) the children were asked to identify their reasons for participating by choosing one answer from the following choices: rewards I will receive, the fun and enjoyment of being with friends, or to improve skills. The most popular response was to improve skills.

Table 1: Reasons for Joining a Team Question 1: Reasons you joined the team you play on  Fun 36%  Friends Play 23%  Desire to have Fun 10%  Improve Skill 9%  Other combinations 22%

Question 2: Reason child plays  To Improve Skills 56%  Fun and Enjoyment 43%  Rewards one will receive 1%

The responses to question 3 on the concept of “pressure to win” (Table 2), 68% of participants did not feel pressure from their teammates. Based upon responses to questions 4 and 5, 84% of the participants did not feel that their parents and their coach put pressure on them to win. When separating for gender on question 5, more boys than girls felt more pressure to win by a difference of 11%. Yet, the percentages still indicate that both male and female participants did not perceive coaches as stressing winning to be the most important factor for participation.

Table 2: Pressure to Win Question 3: Do team members put pressure on you to win?  No 68%  Yes 32% Question 4: Do your parents put pressure on you to win?  No 84%  Yes 16% Question 5: Does your coach put pressure on you to win?  No 77%  Yes 23% The data in Table 3 represents responses to a generalized question regarding winning and fun without specification to any peer or role model. When asked about winning in general, the majority (69%) of the children believed that there was not an excessive emphasis placed on winning. Children responded to the question “what was more important, winning or having fun”. 90% of the children believed that having fun was much more important than winning.

Table 3: Emphasis on Winning Question 6: Is there too much emphasis on winning?  No 69%  Yes 31% Questions 7: Which is more important: Winning or Fun?  Having fun 90%  Winning 10%

Discussion Coaches in youth sports have an obligation to teach morally right competitive behavior. As Gatz (2002) stated “there are still several positives to sport, but it is important to remember that participation does not make one a good sport but that practicing sportsmanship makes one a good sport. In this sense, emphasizing enjoyment during participation while still promoting skill development should foster a positive attitude toward sportsmanship.” As Seefeldt et al (1996) pointed out, the more positive experiences that can be offered to young athletes through sports will have a more positive impact on their total development.

Yet, it seems that a dark side to youth sports participation still exists in our society. Coaches, usually in a voluntary role, have little training to be a coach and are mainly basing their knowledge of coaching on their former playing experience. In some cases, the coach is just a parent of one of the participants thus adding to a dual role. However, the problem may be far more reaching than just a coach with past playing experience. Rainer Martens, the founder of the American Coaching Effectiveness Program, a program that licenses thousands of coaches each year, proposed that coaches with little training or direction tend to lead their teams like a professional team, which emphasized winning versus having fun (Brown & Branta, 1988). Poor coaching has been cited as one of the top five reasons that children quit participating in a sport (Murphy, 1999).

Parental pressure on children has to be considered in the attitudes and perceptions of children. Murphy (1999) stated that “many parents view youth sports as a means of achieving a desired goal such as a college scholarship, a contract with a sponsor, or a professional career.” A contribution of a force-fed competitiveness is the parent’s desire for a child to play a particular sport professionally (Smoll, Magill & Ash, 1988). Gerdy (2002) pointed out that what children observe and learn through their athletic experiences are often lessons they apply throughout their lives. Obviously, the behavior of the athletes can be influenced by the behavior of parents and the teachings of coaches. This is an important concept for youth sports leaders to understand because increased competitive opportunities for kids also means increased opportunities to learn lifelong behaviors. Whether those learning experiences will be positive or negative can be impacted greatly by the leadership the children observe. Lumpkin et al (2003) believed that fun, socialization, and development of moral values start to erode as young athletes learn that winning-at-all costs in some leagues is more reality than myth.

Lumpkin et al (2003) also believed that parents and overly enthusiastic fans may expect or even demand adult-level entertainment from children and adolescents. Eighty four percent of the youth who participated in this study did not feel pressured from their parents to win. Yiannakis & Greendorfer (1992) suggested that if parents place high importance on winning then children will do the same. However, parents who encourage their children to play for the love of the game rather than playing to win may guide a child to a more enjoyable sport experience. Some critics seem to be wary of over- involved parents but results of this study indicated that the children did not feel pressured by their parents to win.

Literature that suggests pressure from teammates to win is a factor one way or another seems to be limited. However, the literature base is rich regarding parental and coaching involvement leading to sports participation not being as enjoyable. The findings of this study indicated that peers put more pressure on winning as opposed to coaches and parents. These results would certainly cause one to seek an answer to the following question. Why do children feel more pressure from their teammates than their parents or coaches?

More than likely, this pressure is the highest because children are particularly sensitive to the comments that other children make about their performance (Yiannakis & Greendorfer, 1992). Is peer pressure to win really a bad thing? The argument that winning does not have to be the most important thing but the concept of competing with peers of equal skill levels that possibly leads to a winning outcome may be important to the young athlete. Nonetheless, this study did not ascertain the amount of pressure that a child believes is being placed upon them from their peers to win.

The responses to items on this survey suggested that participants valued intrinsic motivations more than external rewards. Most of the children reported that they wanted to improve, but not necessarily why they wanted to improve. This study was conducted during the summer months and one test site was a summer sports camp. Such summer sports camp may be a place where children strive to improve skills, therefore there is less emphasis on winning. This research did not attempt to take into account individual child behaviors of competitiveness or the source of their personal belief on feeling pressured to win.

Considerations Some considerations should be given as one interprets the results of this study. Due to the setting in which the questionnaire was distributed, the economic status of most participants were perceived to be from middle and upper class socio-economic status with the sampled and the number of participants surveyed it is difficult to generalize the findings. This study only focused on motivations of children and was not sport-specific. Children tend to live in the moment and may not have answered the survey questions recalling their entire sports participation experience but only answered questions as it pertained to what was occurring with them at the time the questions were asked.

Conclusion It is important to determine and consistently seek to understand what motivates children to play sports. The data from this study provided information for parents, coaches, and physical educators as to what may motivate children to participate in sports. The findings from this study refuted some of the problems experts claim are inherent in youth sports participation. The young athletes in this study did not believe that there was too much emphasis on winning from their coaches and parents. However, there may be some evidence that peer pressure is a factor related to an emphasis on winning. It is important for parents, coaches, and physical educators to understand the motivating processes that drive youth in competition and sport for the purpose of keeping competition fun and enjoyable for those who participate.

References Brown, EW & Branta, CF. (1988). Competitive sports for children and youth. Champaign, IL. Human Kinetics. Gatz, M & Messner, MA & Ball-Rokeach, SJ. (2002). Paradoxes of youth and sport. Albany, NY. State University of New York. Gerdy, JR. (2002). Sports: the all-American addiction. Jackson,MS. University Press of Mississippi. Lumpkin, A, Stoll, SK & Beller, JM. (2003). Sports ethics:applications for fair play. Boston, MA. McGraw-Hill. Murphy, SM. (1999). The cheers and the tears: a healthy alternative to the dark side of youth sports today. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass. Roberts, R & Olson, JS. (1989). Winning is the only thing: sports in America since 1945. Baltimore, MD. John Hopkins University Press. Seefeldt, VD & Ewing, ME. (1996). Youth sports in America: an overview. PCPFS Research Digest, 2, 11. Smoll, FL, Magill, RA & Ash, MJ. (1988). Children in sport. Champaign, IL. Human Kinetics. Yiannakis, A & Greendorfer SL. (1992). Applied sociology of sport. Champaign, IL. Human Kinetics.