Athletes' Motivations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic brought rapid changes to society. In 2020, many events and activities were either canceled or transitioned to a remote setting. One activity that was canceled was school athletics, which resulted in major challenges and obstacles for both coaches and athletes. Some sports could be individually practiced, while others could not. Distance running is an individual sport so it was simple for athletes to continue training individually, although many athletes mentally struggled to lace up their running shoes and continue training due to a lack of motivation. For this study, a survey was developed to collect information on athletes’ levels of interaction with coaches and teammates, type of motivation using the Sports Motivation Scale-6, type of mindset using the Regulatory Focus Questionnaire, and the extent to which they felt they were meeting training expectations from March to November of 2020. The results suggested that athletes with more intrinsic forms of motivation had less difficulty staying motivated to meet training expectations. Additionally, all athletes were more motivated to meet training expectations when they had upcoming races and clearly defined goals. Lastly, motivation types became less significant in October and November, when the North Carolina High School Athletics Association allowed athletes to hold regular team practices and races, as coaches and teammates helped keep less self-determined athletes accountable for their training.