Differences in the perception of mini-basketball players' motivational climate according to the games' results. A pilot study in youth sport

According to the Achievement Goals Theory, the motivational climate plays an important role for players to have positive experiences during physical activity. The present pilot study aimed to examine whether the mini-basketball players had different perceptions of their motivational climate depending on the game outcome. It is a pilot study that followed the selective methodology to investigate the relationship between winning and losing and the motivational climate. Participants were 72 mini-basketball players aged 8-11 years (Myears = 9.96, SD = 1.52) from six masculine teams. Data were collected during one mini-basketball season, in which players completed the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 after each of the 10 game days. Lineal regres-sion analysis was performed. The results showed no association between a task-oriented motivational climate and game outcome. However, it was found that players from teams that won reported higher ego values. Accordingly, the results of this study reflect that social comparison was associated with greater ego orientation. This work suggests continuous training of coaches to foster a task-oriented motivational climate in their players through different strategies.