Motives for sports practice in young soccer and volleyball athletes

Abstract The reasons why athletes, especially young people, seek to adhere to sports practice has aroused the interest of research. The aim of this study was to identify the reasons for the sports practice of young soccer and volleyball athletes according to gender, age, family economic class, practice time and level of competitiveness. 188 athletes, 56 volleyball athletes and 132 soccer players aged 10-16 participated in the study. The reasons for the sport were identified through the Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ). The data were analyzed through Covariance Analysis. The results indicated that, in general, the most important reason for sports practice was "Technical Competence" (4.51±0.54), followed by factors of intermediate importance: "Competition" (4.30±0.73), "Group Activity" (4.29±0.71) and "Physical Fitness" (4.25±0.64). Low-income families (C) attributed greater importance to the motivation factors related to "Social Recognition" and "Group Activity". Athletes with lower practice time conceded less relevance to "Group Activity" and "Affiliation", while those with a national competitive level demonstrated greater importance to all motivation factors, with the exception of "Competition." Young athletes have been motivated to practice sports, especially for reasons related to self-realization, improvement of technical skills and overcoming challenges. Differences were also identified between family economic class groups, practice time and competitive level in the motivation factors for sports practice.