Athlete-perceived coaching competency and its role in the basic psychological needs and motivation of youth football players

Abstract

(1) Objectives; Grounded in self-determination theory, this study aimed to examine the relationship between athlete-perceived coaching competency and youth football players’ motivational processes. Specifically, this work analysed how players’ perceptions of their coach's competencies (i.e., motivation, game strategy, technical-tactical, and character-building) can be associated with the satisfaction and frustration of their basic psychological needs, and how these relate to different types of motivation. (2) Equipment and methods; A total of 624 male youth football players (aged 12–18), who competed at the same regional competitive level, completed validated questionnaires measuring coaching competency, need satisfaction/frustration, and types of motivation. (3) Results; A structural equation modelling revealed that all four coaching competencies positively predicted need satisfaction, whereas only character-building competency was a negative predictor of need frustration. Furthermore, need satisfaction positively predicted more self-determined motivations (i.e., intrinsic and identified), while need frustration was positively related to less self-determined motivations (i.e., introjected, external, and amotivation). Indirect effects were also found analyses between coaching competencies and athletes’ motivation, via need satisfaction and need frustration. These findings highlight the crucial role of coaching competencies in promoting high-quality motivation in youth football through the fulfillment of athletes’ psychological needs.