An ethnographic study on confidence in youth sports, explored through a college student athletes perspective.

1. Confidence in Youth Sports
An Ethnographic Study
ALEXANDRAWHEATLEY
BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
2016 PASSHE Anthropology Conference: April
23rd-24th

2. 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
Coaches
Parents
Peers
Individual vs. Team Sports

3. 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.”
http://ecx.images-
amazon.com/images/I/51ycQc7NLmL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200
_.jpg

4. Introduction
This 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.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/graphics/2010/08/29/overview-art-
gqn9j4k9-1youth-sports-fs-9.jpg

5. 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.
http://napervillemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/NMAG0812_Feature_Small_1.jpg

6. 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

7. People and Place
College student athletes
 Facebook pages
Posted survey on student athlete
pages with permission of group
administrator
 Emails
Bloomsburg University student
athletes received the survey in their
email
 Personal connections
I am a student athlete myself, several
of my fellow teammates shared my
survery with student athletes they
knew

8. Sample
 Snowball sampling
 193 student athletes
 127 women’s team
participants
 66 men’s team
participants
0 50 100 150
Women's
Team
Men's
Team

9. 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

10. Of the traits below, I identify most
with…(Choose top 3)
111, 42%
89, 33%
66, 25%
Active Independent Happy
3, 21%
4, 29%
7, 50%
Dispassionate Pessimistic Cynical
Top 3 Bottom 3

11. How Confident are You?
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Not at all Rarely Occasionally Often Very Often
I handle new situations with
relative comfort and ease
I feel postitive and energized
about life
I believe that if I work hard, I will
achive my goals
I keep trying, even after others
have given up
I achieve the goals I set for
myself

12. How Confident are You?
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Not at all Rarely Occasionally Often Very Often
When I face difficulty, I feel
hopeless and negative
I relate to people who work very
hard, and still do not accomplish
their goals
If something looks difficult, I
avoid doing it
I need to experience success
early in a process, or I will not
continue

13. 51, 54%
22, 24%
21, 22%
Swimming
and Diving
Soccer
Tack and
Field
What Sport Do Your Currently Play?

14. How many years have you participated in
this sport?
0 20 40 60 80
0 to 2
3 to 6
7 to 11
12 to 16
17 to 21
Participants
Years

15. What sports did you play growing up (prior to
college)? Please select all that apply.
114, 31%
96, 26%
82, 23%
74, 20%
Top 4
Soccer Basketball
Track and Field Swimming
0, 0%
1, 25%
1, 25%
2, 50%
Bottom 4
Rifle Beach Volleyball Fencing Rowing

16. Youth Sport Experience
180 185 185
81
13 8 8
112
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
My coaches made me
feel confident in my
athletic ability.
My parents made me
feel confident in my
athletic ability.
I was more confident
after I won the sport I
participated in
competitively.
I was less confident
after I lost in the sport I
was participating in
competitively.
Agree Disagree

17. Youth Sport Experience
188
135
190
109
5
58
3
83
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
I participated in "Team
sports" growing up.
I participated in
"Individual sports"
growing up.
I enjoyed my
experience in sports
growing up.
I relied on my
teammates to boost my
confidence.
Agree Disagree

18. Current Sport Experience
119
145
185 180
91
73
47
7 12
100
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
I rely on my teammates
to boost my confidence.
My coaches make me
feel confident in my
athletic ability.
My parents make me
feel confident in my
athletic ability.
I am more confident
after I win the sport I
participate in
competitively.
I am less confident after
I lose the sport I
participate in
competitively.
Agree Disagree

19. Current Sport Experience
173
76
188
20
116
4
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
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.
Agree Disagree

20. 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 practice
Track and Field morning practice
Swim team off season workout
http://bunow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/hus08.jpg

21. What was observed…
Lacrosse
Warm-Up
Goalie 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.
Game
The 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/Pic
ciotti-action.jpg

22. 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.
http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/styles/2x2/public/media/bloo
msburgxc.jpg?itok=6oSQOeFu

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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”

26. 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”

27. 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

28. 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”

29. 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”

30. 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.”

31. 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

32. 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?
http://media.parentsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/main-image-sidelines.jpeg

33. 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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