Literature Review On Factors Affecting The Decision Of The Athletes In Choosing Their Sport

Parents’ Involvement

When it comes to the reasons behind playing sports, children consider their parents in two ways. The first type of parent is the one who assist and facilitates their children’s engaged activities. This kind of parent allows their child’s willingness to choose their sports to participate, not only to play their chosen sport, but also in deciding to which sport they will participate. The second type of parent is one who controls their child oftentimes. This kind of parent always manages and controls their child’s involvement in a particular sport and also set levels of standards on their child’s performance. The parent’s decision to their child place a big impact to their child in playing a sport because they believe that through sports they develop their social interaction through their co-athletes. The parents should support their child no matter what the child’s decision even if it’s against the parents will. Parents’ involvement can affect an athlete’s decision positively or negatively.

Kanters and Casper (2008) they studied that the parents support in their child’s play in youth sports generally created more pressure for the. They studied 9 to 11-year-old athletes and parents from 12 teams who competed in a travel league for ice hockey. It should be noted that ice hockey — the focus of the study — is one of the most expensive sport and most of the athletes likely came from high social noble families. It was revealed that the pressure they accord from their child creates a negative feeling and they are unaware of the pressure they give on their child to play well in the said sport. The study also showed that it is very essential that parents and children has the same level of support, in order for the child to have a positive experience in youth sport. The unavailability of the mother’s support in masculine sports like ice hockey can contribute negative feelings to their child. The findings suggest a vital need for more agreement of the level of parent involvement between both parent and athlete in sports and coaching.

In Kanter and Casper’s (2008) study, when a father notice that the child had learned the skill very well, the child’s views of his or her capabilities and expertise in playing ice hockey is increased and becoming greater. An athlete should also have the support from the parents in which this will help the athlete to become good and better in their chosen sport, but the parents can be also a coach to their child. It can have a positive effect on athlete’s decision in choosing their sports as parents’ involvement is needed to create a positive environment so that the athlete can in which the athlete can successfully master and have personal development. This positive affect will establish when parent understand the reasons of the children themselves choose to participate. Parents support of their children’s “reasons for playing sports is critical and the very first step towards helping children to have the best and able to be done possible experiences in sport”.

Parents consider themselves as a primary source of care and support and as well as a source of praise and understanding. It varies from positive to negative. The positive support is when the parents supports through financial resources and in every game the parents are always present. There are also parents who are active in cheering their child in every game. The negative support from the parents are the parents who keeps on pushing their child to the limits and they keep on blaming their child if they don’t win. These are the negative effect that cause the athlete’s performance. Negative involvement refers to directive behavior, and pressure to win. This is where parents can cause negative effect on the athlete. Every parent tends to observe and look at their child’s skills, or more simplistically what participating sports team they can give to their child. The reasons do not often align with the reasons identified by children regarding their participation with sports and; therefore, parental involvement can often dominate more negative effects on the participation of the child’s chosen sport than positive effect. It is already a persuasion that once a child can able to make and construct their own decisions regarding in their participation and to have some control, he/she will continue to engage and involve their selves in any sports activity.

The athlete should have an open relationship to their parents because this will establish a good result when they engage in a sport activity. Parental pressure is not always done in purpose. It is important to believe that athletes can excel to their chosen sports with or without pushing them; their success often depends on how they are motivated and supported. Some athletes consider playing is stressful, and other also consider it as normal because they see enjoyment. According to Holt et al. (2008), parents believe that if they already have experience, knowledge and a better understanding of the skill, they can provide some advices to their child during practices, games, or even at home. Parents have the good qualifications to contribute to the child's sport because they have the knowledge and experience, they can supply extra instruction to their child and can attract additional motivation to the child. Generally, to provide sports programming for a just price, it is much needed for the parents to perform duties and serve as volunteer coaches in recreation centers and other community base organizations. Every parent serves as a coach can function as positive assets to youth sports; however, when parents became coaches of their child, it will have an effect to the child’s enjoyment of the sport. More importantly, it can have a good effect to their relationship. Furthermore, as mentioned by the Columbus Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine Department, the parents are the ones who put their child into pressure to be more improve and to excel into a certain sport, they are the one who set challenges for their child such as competitions. These result to a big problem to the child and to the parent’s decision and interest leads to misunderstanding.

Fredricksband Eccles (2004) defines that the importance of the parents supports and understanding for their child is needed. The parents should know how to control the child’s attitude in sport. This will help the child’s performance in sports activity and training. The parents support will influence on how children view their athleticism and their satisfaction. Children will be more confident in their athleticism and show more satisfaction with a sport when they are encourage and praise by their parents. When parents is giving more pressure to their children it will create stress for the athlete and may become dissatisfied with the sport and will cause the absence of their confidence in their athletic ability. The kind of support he or she receives from his or her parents will have an effect to his or her athletic body.

Peer pressure

Another factor is peer pressure. This factor is viewed as negative as perceived by some of us but we do not know that it has also has positive effects. According to a survey conducted by Survelum Data Bank, fifty-four percent of teenagers agree that peer pressure can also be positive in a way that athletes exerts more effort to be better for their teammates or possibly because the school is counting on them. . In addition, if it is to be based on social context, the youth are more likely to be active when they are in their peers circle rather than when they are alone because some of the sports being played today is already grouped and likely to have a partner. The participation of youth in sports provides an opportunity for them to strengthen their social skills. Teachers believe that children who always participate in sports is “more socially competent” than others who were less involved in any sports activities and to have “higher levels of psychosocial maturity”.

Youth that has greater presence of peers in their lives plays a great impact in engaging greater physical activity it is explained that participating on a sports team with a friend is consociated with increased physical activity during their adolescence. Companionship provided by friends can cause positive affect during in their physical activity and making choices to what physical activity they will participate.

Personal choice

This factor affects male athletes in particular. They’re reason to play sports is for the “competition, social benefits and fitness while for girls, the factors were social+skill benefits and fitness”. On average, female athletes tend to look the social side of sports participation while male athletes concentrate more on their fondness on competition. Enjoyment is an essential factor in youth sport programs, for without enjoyment athlete do not want to participate in any sport programs.

Benefits

It is showed in a study that participating in sports activities gives students two benefits - health benefits and social benefits. Sports involvement have a positive effect on the psychological development and social development of every athlete. Psychologically, “when participating school sports programs can have a positive impact upon self-image during adolescent years. ” The participation of youth in sports will avoid and help them away from harm and trouble. It is stated that children who have great extent and quantities of unstructured time “risk being caught up in unfair practices, violence, discrimination, and eating disorders”, and it is also stated that children “who were regularly involving their selves in sports will have lower risk of using cigarettes and the use of cannabis was significantly more frequent among those adolescents who ‘never’ engaged in…sports”. These might be considered as potential risk for any children in spite of their individual involvement with sports.

Another benefit that athlete will gain in sports involvement is increase in their self-esteem. Fox’s review (2000) they conclude that it will have general improvements in athletes self-perception and self-esteem are most likely to occur than those athletes who have most to gain physically from exercise and any activities that requires physical efforts and the greatest improvements are most likely seen to those individuals with low self-esteem, physical self-worth and body image. In a cross-sectional, a study of 9-12-year-old children, Valois (2011) they conclude that, especially for white females, when participating in sports team may enhance their physiological and psychological well-being, contributing to life satisfaction. This will improved their character mentally and morally. Tomson (2011) added in his cross-sectional, self-report study of 8-12 years old, found a strong affirmative and positive alliance between depression and levels of physical activity and health-related fitness status – although the correlation between playing sports outside the school and depressive symptoms was more likely to effect on boys than girls. In a 12-month study of school children participating in organized sport, Findlay and Coplan (2011) they found that children showing nervousness and timidity have significant decrease in social anxiety and increase in their self-esteem. This effect may be explained by the role of sport in determining their social status.

However, Bowker (2011) divides physical self-esteem into physical appearance and physical competence, suggests that they have differences associated with global self-esteem for both girls and boys. It was found that the relationship between sports participation and general self-esteem are not intervening factors and not direct, having its strongest impact on physical self-esteem, which in turn was having the effect of general self-esteem. Physical competence plays a significant role for boys in determining general self-esteem, and for the girls is the difficulty in attaining physical appearance. The review by the European Heart Network Expert Group on Physical Activity illustrates that a sedentary lifestyle – somewhat inactive, spending their time most in seating more likely have the risk of cardiovascular disease. It summarizes the evidence that regular, moderate and accumulated activity will possibly lower the heart rate, raise of insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure, raise HDL/total blood cholesterol ratio and helps weight control. Rodriguez et al illustrate that physical activity can reduced the risk of ischemic stroke – when the arteries of the brain become blocked and narrowed and will cause severe blood flow, than those with increased left ventricular mass. Baggish (2009) compared the effect of exercise of the athletes strength and endurance at the end of 90 days, both of the groups had significant total increases in heart size, although the effects differed between the two groups. This shows that all exercise prescriptions are not equal and similar and that there is need to modify the type of exercise to do for their specific type of heart disease.

Miller et al (2000) use data from a large-scale survey of school pupils to illustrate that athletic participation has both positive and negative implications for adolescent health and recommend ways to use sport for health promotion. He uses cultural resource theory to suggest that athletic participation enables girls to resist traditional gender definitions and have lower rates of sexual experience and higher contraception use. For boys, sport seems to reinforce gendered behaviour. Hellansjo (2000) Norwegian survey data indicate that participation in the regulated environment of a sports club may delay the onset of alcohol consumption. Pastor (2000) use survey data on 15-18 year olds to conclude that the higher the levels of sports participation, the higher the perceived fitness and consequently enhanced perceived health, with lower levels of smoking and alcohol use also enhancing health perceptions. However, the relationships are only weak to moderate. Wichstrom and Wichstrom’s longitudinal study found that those initially involved in team sports had increased growth in alcohol intoxication and those in endurance sports had reduced growth. Both team and endurance sports were related to reduced growth in tobacco use. Increase in use of alcohol by team sport participants concurs with the social influence explanation. As does the reduced growth in endurance sports which are held at weekends (precluding the Friday and Saturday night drinking). Davies and Foxall, the first UK investigation of links between sport and alcohol consumption among high school students, found that males may be socialised at a relatively young age into a masculine culture in which alcohol is accepted as a normal accompaniment to sporting activity and this may affect their expectations of both current and future behaviour (despite having more negative attitudes to alcohol).

In terms of more general sports participation, Begg (2011), in a large self-report study, found no significant association between sporting activity and aggressive behaviour or team sport participation and delinquency and aggressive behaviour. Consequently, the authors reject the simpler versions of the hypothesis that sport has a deterrent impact on delinquent behaviour. Mutz and Baur illustrate that sports club participation does not automatically lead to a decrease or increase in self-reported violence and compared to powerful agents of socialisation sports clubs’ affiliation may be of marginal relevance. If such issues are to be addressed this will require specially designed interventions which combined sports-related aims with socially spirited objectives. Camire and Trudel (2002) explore the contribution of sports participation to self-assessed social (teamwork, perseverance, loyalty) and moral (honesty, sportsmanship, respect) development. They found that individual athletes were more likely to emphasise moral values, with team athletes emphasising social values. With regard to moral values, few reported learning about them via sport as they had been exposed to them in other life domains. The authors suggest that coaches need to undertake concrete and proactive initiatives to reduce gamesmanship and re-emphasise the moral character of sport.