By Kade Wagers & Eric Martin
(February 24, 2022)

The majority of youth coaches would agree that they want their athletes to excel in sports, continue to be involved, and have fun. Sadly, many youth athletes fail to stay engaged in organized athletics throughout their childhood and adolescent years. Continued involvement, however, should be a priority for all those who coach young athletes for a variety of reasons.

Why it’s important to keep kids involved in sports

Child involvement in sports helps to foster social skills, develop physical skills, show the importance of teamwork, get exercise, have fun, increase self-esteem, and teach the fundamentals of playing fair (Aacap, 2018). These are valuable life skills that promote physical, social, and emotional health. Additionally, physical activity has proven to be a key factor in maintaining a healthy body weight, which has implications throughout adolescence and beyond (Hills et al., 2011; Tandon et al., 2021). With childhood obesity on the rise (Hales et al., 2017, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021), it is imperative to create a sports environment that promotes healthy practices and engages kids to continue to play sports. Through the right motivational coaching strategies, it is possible to keep kids interested in sports and reap all of the benefits that sports can provide.

Achievement Goal Theory

Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) (Nicholls, 1984) provides details on how to create motivational climates that will keep young athletes engaged in sport and focused on goals aimed at individual growth and improvement. AGT breaks down motivational factors into Task and Ego goal orientations dependent on how athletes perceive and define ability and effort in sports. While both goal types want to win within sports, a task climate has been shown to better increase intrinsic motivation, a fundamental aspect for long-term sports participation and enjoyment.

TARGET Framework

Using AGT can help coaches to create and maintain a positive team environment, devise strategies for practices and games, and put players in situations to improve and excel. One way to accomplish this is through the TARGET framework which is an effective way to promote a motivational climate that enhances engagement, collaboration, interaction, and continued involvement in sport. The framework has six components that coaches can control within motivational climates to enhance task-driven goal orientations and promote motivation within sports (Ames, 1992). The components are abbreviated as TARGET or 1) Task: the tasks athletes are asked to perform, 2) Authority: the amount of authority athletes are given, 3) Recognition: how rewards and attention are given to athletes, 4) Grouping: how students are grouped, 5) Evaluation: how athletes are evaluated, and 6) Time: the amount of time given for athletes to complete a task. Examples of various sport-specific ways to incorporate each of the six components of TARGET can be seen in Table 1.

Task Orientation

Task-orientated athletes define success by the amount of effort they put in for self-improvement. When athletes are judging their progress in sport by their individual improvement and personal effort, they tend to foster a team environment that leads to improvement and beneficial learning experiences (Ames & Archer, 1988; Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Nolen, 1988). Athletes with a task goal orientation tend to:

• Concentrate on personal improvements and mastery.
• Seek out harder challenges.
• Show increased persistence.
• Develop better learning strategies.

Ego Orientation

On the other hand, ego-orientated athletes focus more on social comparisons, exhibiting similar performance with less effort, or showing they are more skilled than others. This type of orientation generally creates rivalries among teammates, focuses only on the most skilled players, and treats mistakes harshly (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Athletes with this goal orientation tend to:

• Pay more attention to ability and disregard effort.
• Determine personal successes based on comparison to the abilities of others.
• Show less perseverance, especially when experiencing obstacles.
• Make an effort to avoid difficult challenges.

How Coaches can Create Motivational Climates

In some cases, complete task orientation may not be possible, however, creating an environment that is mostly based on task goals better motivates athletes to excel. Individuals can fluctuate between ego and task goals which has shown to be dependent on the motivational climate, a large part of which is defined by the coach. It is important to note that coaches should prioritize as many task aspects of the TARGET framework as possible as it is more likely to increase sport participation and motivation in young athletes which is much needed for children today.

Coaches play a key role in the creation of positive motivational climates for young athletes that can keep them active and interested in sports. What coaches say and do within the sports setting has a huge effect on their players and the sport atmosphere. By following the TARGET framework, and promoting task goals within the framework, it is possible for coaches to make sports more fun, supportive, and conducive for younger athletes.

References

Aacap. (2018, October). Sports and children. Sports and children. Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-And-Sports-061.aspx.

Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(3).

Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3). https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.80.3.260

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, April 5). Childhood obesity facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 13, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html.

Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A Social-Cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95(2).

Hales, C. M., Carroll, M. D., Fryar, C. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2017). Prevalence of obesity among adults and youth: United States, 2015-2016. NCHS Data Brief, 288.

Hills, A. P., Andersen, L. B., & Byrne, N. M. (2011). Physical activity and obesity in children. In British Journal of Sports Medicine (Vol. 45, Issue 11).

Nicholls, J. G. (1984). Achievement Motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological Review, 91(3).

Nolen, S. B. (1988). Reasons for studying: Motivational orientations and study strategies. Cognition and Instruction, 5(4).

Tandon, P. S., Zhou, C., Johnson, A. M., Gonzalez, E. S., & Kroshus, E. (2021). Association of children’s physical activity and screen time with mental health during the covid-19 pandemic. JAMA Network Open, 4(10). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.27892