Motivation
How supportive coaches affect young athletes' well-being
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
When youth soccer coaches support their players' independence and choices, it boosts the players' psychological needs and enjoyment, which keeps their energy levels high even into the following season with a different coach.
How this study connects
Role on claims
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Supporting autonomy and satisfying basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) fosters intrinsic motivation, which in turn enhances subjective vitality and feelings of energy.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cohort — Two-wave youth-football survey of coach autonomy support, SDT needs, and leisure-time physical activity
- N
- N=360 · Male players 11–13 years from 40 teams / 26 Valencian clubs
- Population
- Spanish boys in competitive youth football
- Outcome
- Need satisfaction and leisure-time activity predicted by perceived coach autonomy support
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Inspect source passages
How supportive coaches affect young athletes' well-being
These passages occur verbatim in the stored paper text. They support the points listed below; they do not verify every statement in the explanation.
360 male footballers who participated in the study
The participants were 360 male footballers from Spain, ranging in age from 11 to 13 years ( M = 12.60, SD = 0.52) and representing 40 teams from 26 different clubs registered in the Valencian Community Football Federation.
three distinct time points at which the measurement models were analyzed
The validity of the scales was analyzed via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the measurement models at the three different time points.
Key findings
The study found that when players perceived their coaches as supportive of their autonomy at the start of the season, they reported higher satisfaction of their basic needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) by the end of the season. This needs satisfaction predicted higher intrinsic motivation, which in turn predicted greater subjective vitality, or feelings of energy and aliveness. Notably, these positive psychological benefits carried over to the start of the next season, even when players switched to a different coach.
Methodology
The researchers surveyed 360 male footballers from Spain, ranging in age from 11 to 13 years. The athletes completed questionnaires at three different time points across consecutive competitive seasons. These surveys measured how much the players felt their coaches supported their autonomy, their level of basic psychological needs satisfaction, their intrinsic motivation, and their subjective vitality.
Limitations
The study only included young male football players, meaning the findings may not apply to female athletes, older age groups, or players in other sports. Because the researchers relied entirely on self-reported questionnaires, the study measures the players' perceptions of autonomy support rather than the coaches' actual objective behaviors. Additionally, the study did not measure other negative social environmental factors, such as controlling coaching styles, which could also influence a player's long-term well-being.
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