Re-characterizing confidence because of religious and personal rituals in sport: findings from a qualitative study of 15 year old student-athletes

Abstract

Sport psychology research on athletic confidence could be enriched if athletes’ use of religious and personal rituals in sport is considered when characterizing confidence. Drawn from interviews with twelve 15-year-old student-athletes at two Canadian Catholic high schools, this paper reports that youth used religious and personal rituals – such as spiritual self-reflection, superstitions, prayer and religious rituals – for building confidence because of the felt intensity of competition. It is concluded that in order to better incorporate factors like religious background when understanding player confidence, researchers should pay attention to existential and spiritual dimensions of human living, and by extension, analyse youth sport experiences as both performance and as ritual, thus legitimizing the organic incorporation of religious and personal rituals in athletic competition. This paper acts as a step in deeper explorations of the spiritual side of sport psychology regarding confidence boosting for peak performance.

Notes

1. This study was approved by the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board. Operational approval was obtained from the Edmonton Catholic Schools District (ECSD).

2. ECSD also offered support through a contract-grant to the author.

3. Ms. Samantha Kuchera assisted with the early analysis of the qualitative data as part of a larger project. Her efforts nudged the work toward an examination of confidence.