Noncompetitive Spirit

A recent study of nearly 300 youth players suggests that winning games doesn’t necessary lead to their sense of enjoyment or fulfillment through sports participation. Rather, the study found, an environment that promotes having fun, self-improvement and maximum participation and effort is more beneficial to young athletes’ growth.

Two professors from the University of Washington researched the psychology of 268 predominately white and middle-class Seattle Parks and Recreation Department basketball program participants.

Researchers found that young people thrived in "mastery motivational climates," which stress effort over competition, compared to "ego climates," in which winning is supreme and personal success is measured by competition results.

"In terms of athletes’ ratings of how much fun they had and how much they liked playing for their coach, our results showed that a mastery climate was about 10 times more influential than was the team’s win-loss record," researcher Ronald Smith told the UW office of news and information, adding, "We also found that a win-at-all-costs ego climate was negatively related to enjoyment and liking the coach."

Researchers did find that athletes who played on teams with better win-loss records believe their coach to be more knowledgeable about the sport. However, they also found that athletes in a motivational mastery climate are more apt to play for the coach again and enjoy their team experience.

UW sports psychologist Frank Smoll summed up the findings for the university’s news service. Said Smoll, "So much of what we do is based on the ideas of what adults think kids need without looking at the kids’ perspectives."