Abstract
The primary purpose of this descriptive study was to understand anxiety levels, coping strategies, and confidence levels in youth sports participants. The two researchers collaborated efforts and this study focused on male youth baseball players in the Sacramento, California area between the ages of 11-14. A secondary objective of this study was to identify parental perception of youth anxiety, coping strategies, and confidence levels. The information found regarding youth self-reported anxiety levels, confidence, and coping strategies was found to be significant and, therefore, helpful to those working in the areas of youth development with regard to better understand the dynamics of participation in youth sports and the areas of study. Because more children are participating in youth sports programs than ever before, this research is useful for all those involved in the development, implementation, and facilitation of youth sports programs. The parental perspective component gathered critical information and helped the researchers appreciate the association between actual self-reported results from the youth participants and the perceptions that parents have regarding behaviors and emotions of the participants. The two researchers collaborated efforts and for this study, 31 male youth baseball players were given a questionnaire with 42 questions. The researchers used 39 parental interviews to examine understanding awareness of youth’s feelings during competition and how these feelings manifest into behaviors. The results revealed that although there was not as much anxiety experienced as the researchers hypothesized, there were areas where anxiety was increased, including differences in levels of anxiety between levels of play or skill. Confidence levels were also reported very high both among the youth participants as well as in the perception of the parents. Three universal coping strategies that help explain the lower anxiety levels through association emerged, and different coping strategies used between skill level were also found.