Abstract
Drawing on the self-determination framework, the study examined the effect of coaches’ autonomy support on the leisure experience of young male football players. Specifically, a model was tested analyzing the long-term predictive power of the players’ perceptions of the coaches’ autonomy support at the beginning of the season on the subjective vitality of young football players at the end of the season, through needs satisfaction and intrinsic motivation (IM). Moreover, we tested whether the effects of coaches’ autonomy support on the aforementioned variables (needs satisfaction, IM, and subjective vitality) at the end of the season remained at the beginning of the following season. Because the coach in the second season was not the same one as in the first season, the perception of coaches’ autonomy support at the beginning of the second season was used as a control variable. Three hundred and sixty football players (M age = 12.60 years; SD = 0.52) completed a questionnaire on the variables of interest at the beginning of the first season (T1), at the end of the first season (T2), and at the beginning of the second season (T3). The results of the path analyses showed that players’ perceptions of coaches’ autonomy support at the beginning of the season (T1) positively predicted needs satisfaction at the end of the first season (T2), which in turn predicted IM at the end of the first season (T2). Additionally, IM significantly and positively predicted subjective vitality at the end of the first season (T2). Finally, needs satisfaction, IM, and subjective vitality at the end of the second season (T2) positively predicted these same variables at the beginning of the second season (T3). Results emphasized the importance of the autonomy support offered by the coach in promoting the quality of young people’s leisure experience playing football and its benefits for their well-being.
Highlights
Contemporary theories of motivation argue that the coach’s interpersonal style has a significant impact on athletes’ quality leisure experiences in sport contexts and their well-being, and that some motivational mechanisms can explain these relationships (Ryan and Deci, 2000; Duda, 2013)
The fit indexes of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the measurement models were acceptable in T1: χ2 (1319) = 4270.89, p < 0.001, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.919, incremental fit index (IFI) = 0.919, non- normative fit index (NNFI) = 0.916, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.081, SRMR = 0.074; in T2: χ2 (662) = 3715.15, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.902, IFI = 0.902, NNFI = 0.901, RMSEA = 0.081, SRMR = 0.069; and in T3: χ2 (1268) = 4543.59, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.906, IFI = 0.906, NNFI = 0.901, RMSEA = 0.079, SRMR = 0.072
The results showed that a perceived autonomysupportive interpersonal style of the coach in T1 positively predicted needs satisfaction in T2, which in turn positively predicted intrinsic motivation (IM) in T2; IM in T2 positively predicted subjective vitality in T2
Summary
Contemporary theories of motivation argue that the coach’s interpersonal style has a significant impact on athletes’ quality leisure experiences in sport contexts and their well-being, and that some motivational mechanisms can explain these relationships (Ryan and Deci, 2000; Duda, 2013). Based on these postulates, several studies have analyzed the motivational processes in childhood and adolescence in sports contexts, noting the importance of the climate coaches create in the Importance of Coaches in Leisure Time Experience motivation and well-being of young people who practice sports (Mageau and Vallerand, 2003; Duda and Balaguer, 2007; Duda et al, 2018). When young people feel subjective vitality, they feel good, active, with a go-ahead attitude, and interested in the development of their competencies and possibilities
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