Grass root sport & intrinsic motivation

Sport is “loved” by many and played by most, however, why is there still a large drop out of athletes in the adolescent age range (14 to 17 years) in all sports? Factors such as work, schooling commitments, financial restrictions, and social activities certainly negatively influence youth participation in sport, but I believe that the number one reason is that an intrinsic motivation, or “love” for sport, has not been developed.

 

The most influential period of an athlete’s career is the initial years – 5 to 9 years. If the “love” for the sport has not been developed during this time frame it will likely never be developed. If athletes, aided by their parents and coaches, are able to generate an intrinsic motivation for the sport, then their longevity in the sport will be dramatically increased.

 

Intrinsic motivation refers to an internally driven desire to succeed, or simply to compete, such as the feeling of euphoria athletes experience when success has been achieved, or the joy of competition etc…  Athletes that develop internal motivation are typically more successful because of their more powerful desire compared to athletes who are driven by extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation refers to external factors that athletes use for motivation such as money, fame, trophies etc…

 

I believe if we can enhance the development of intrinsically motivated athletes then we would maintain higher participation numbers, generating many other positive effects (a healthier population, decreased youth crime etc…), and we would also develop higher caliber athletes.

 

Developing intrinsically motivated athletes begins at their first exposure to sport. The young potential athletes need to be placed in an environment that is comfortable, age-appropriate, fun with a competitive nature, and most importantly enables the athletes to express themselves without negative feedback, they need to experience success.

 

A huge factor in the generation of the “right” environment for youth sports is the coaches. It seems that most sports have the coaching pyramid backwards, the most novice or inexperienced coaches are working with the youngest athletes, and the “expert” coaches are working with the older athletes where the characteristics of motivation have already been developed.

 

Youth coaches take on a lot of responsibility that I commend them for; however, we as coaches must appreciate that the athletes deserve to be placed in an environment that will enable them to develop the “love” for the sport that we as coaches were able develop.

Craig Dalrymple

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