| This study examined the impact of a youth sports program designed to promote task-orientation on youth sports participants' sportsmanship attitudes and behaviors. Participants included 28 fifth and sixth graders participating in a youth basketball league located at an urban community center. Players were placed on one of four teams. The coaches of two teams received training to help them develop a mastery motivational climate within practices. Coaches of the other two teams conducted practices without any direction from the researchers. In-situ measures of motivational climate, sportsmanship, task-orientation, and ego-orientation were taken near the end of each of 12 practice sessions. Dispositional measures of the same constructs were assessed prior to the final game of the season. Data were analyzed through multilevel modeling techniques. Treatment condition did not significantly impact the motivational climate of practices either on a weekly basis or over the course of the season. However, regardless of whether or not individuals were assigned to treatment groups, the mastery motivational climate in practices was significantly related to most of the in-situ and dispositional variables. Thus, the environment created in a youth sport practice can significantly effect whether or not an individual develops a sense of sportsmanship, task-orientation, and ego-orientation. |
