Do sporting experiences predict team cohesion in youth athletes?

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the association between sporting experiences and the perception of team cohesion according to sex among youth Brazilian recreational athletes. Participants were 253 youth athletes with age average of 12.97 0 0.98 years. Athletes represented the following sports: Indoor soccer (n=20); basketball (n=62); handball (n=123) and; volleyball (n=48). The instruments used were the Youth Experience Survey for Sport (P-YESS) and the Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire (P-YSEQ). Independent sample t-test revealed significant difference between sexes in the dimensions of Personal Skills (p=0.02) (d= 0,31) and Task Cohesion (p=0.02) (d= 0,34). The following significant correlations were found for girls: Task Cohesion with Personal Skills (r=0.48), Initiative Experiences (r=0.37); and Social Cohesion with Personal Skills (r=0.41), Cognitive Skills (r=0.43) and Initiative Experiences (r=0.32). For boys, it was found the following correlations: Task Cohesion with Personal Skills (r=0.19), Initiative Experiences (r=0.42) and Negative Experiences (r=-0.22); and Social cohesion with Personal Skills (r=0.18) and Initiative Experiences (r=0.30). Multiple regression analysis indicated that sports experiences are significant predictors of task (R2=0.21; F=17.838; p<0.01) and social cohesion (R2=0.10; F=7.440; p<0.01). It can be concluded that positive sporting experiences may predict social and task cohesion among youth athletes.