Values, motivational orientation and team cohesion amongst youth soccer players

Abstract

There is a close link between moral education and sports activities. A well-organized sport can be an excellent means of transferring positive values to children and adolescents, which can influence motivation and group processes. This study aimed to analyse (a) the relationships between social, personal and individualistic values, motivational orientation and team cohesion amongst young soccer players and (b) compare differences in these variables between players competing in different age categories. Our participant sample comprised 401 male soccer players of Spanish teams (mean age = 14.64 years) competing in official competitive leagues, of five age categories, Under-10 years to Under-19. All participants responded to three instruments: the Values Scale for Positive Adolescent Development, the Perception of Success Questionnaire and the Group Environment Questionnaire. Correlation and regression, and analysis of differences between categories were performed. The results confirm that personal values are mainly related to task orientation, and individualistic values to ego orientation. The values of responsibility, integrity and honesty were the best predictors of task orientation, and social recognition and hedonism predict ego orientation. Honesty and responsibility were the main predictors of both task and social cohesion. Younger players showed a higher level of social values, task orientation and social cohesion, while older players show higher individualistic values and ego orientation. Implications for research or practice are discussed.

Weekly Variations of Well-Being and Interactions with Training and Match Intensities: A Descriptive Case Study in Youth Male Soccer Players

“…This has not been reported, and it could be interesting to understand the possible delayed effects of accumulated training demands or accumulated poor well-being reports in the following training process. Possibly, better identification of such relationships may provide useful insight to coaches and parents for being attentive to some signals in players [ 18 , 19 ].…”

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“…Their indicated psychological attributes were compared with their sports abilities. Those athletes that indicated that they possessed personal integrity such as honesty and responsibility also demonstrated social cohesion which linked to what was called task cohesion, meaning team cohesion in this case (Berengui et al 2022). It was expected that team cohesion would continue as athletes aged and continued to take part in sports.…”

Perception of fathers and mothers about the sports practice of young athletes: a qualitative study

“…The close link between moral education and sports practice has been confirmed (Bruner et al, 2018), and provided that sport is well organized, it can be an excellent means of transmitting positive social and personal values to children and adolescents (Berengüí & Garcés de Los Fayos, 2007;Light & Harvey, 2015). Therefore, it is imperative that clubs and coaches work to ensure the promotion of value systems that foster the task orientation of the athlete, and promote these positive values (Berengüí et al, 2022). Unlike elite sport, sport at young ages should tend to explicitly advocate values that go beyond victory, bringing together diverse educational experiences, such as the development of sport skills, leadership and teamwork (English, 2018).…”