Perceived Social Context Factors As Indicators Of Sporting Excellence

Abstract

Excellence in the sport depends on many psychological and social factors that strengthen or hinder athletic performance. PURPOSE: Determine the differences between the perceptions of the social context factors related to athletic excellence in athletes between gender and countries. METHODS: Participated 405 athletes (251 men and 152 women) from nine countries was gathered through convenience sampling during the Central American and Caribbean Games 2014 in Veracruz, México. Age varied between 18 and 47 years (M = 24.2; SD = 5.07). The Mean of competitive experience in their sport was 11.13 years (SD = 5.43). Athletes answered the following questionnaire: Perception factors related to Sports Excellence Questionnaire, consisting of 54 items, which measure six factors of social context: coach, environment and resources, athlete, family, nature and characteristics of training workout. RESULTS: The internal consistency analysis was performed using Cronbach’s alpha values resulting adequate (alpha .87 to 95). The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test statistics indicate that there are significant differences in the perception of the six factors of social context among nine countries: coach (K = 59,048, p < .01), environment and resources (K = 39,330, p < .01), sportsman (K = 35,687, p < .01), family (K = 25,700, p < .01), nature of the training (K = 26,000, p < .01) and training characteristics (K = 42,610, p < .01). Also specific differences between pairs countries: Coach (Guatemala = 6.8 and Cuba = 9.1); Environment and Resources (Colombia = 6.06 and República Dominicana = 8.4); Family (Costa Rica = 8.4 and Cuba = 9.4); nature of Training (Costa Rica = 6.0 and México = 7.3) and characteristics of training (Guatemala = 7.2 and Cuba = 9.1). Moreover, Man-Whitney U test was used for comparison of two samples between social and gender factors, resulting that women in training factor characteristics obtained higher values than males (U = 22 919, p < .01). CONCLUSION: We conclude based on the cross-cultural comparison, those athletes from Cuba perceive the coach features; the family atmosphere and characteristics of training are major factors as determinants of social context to achieve their sporting success. Also, according to gender, women involved as a determinant the factor of characteristics of workout.