Managing emotions during youth soccer matches

Abstract

This work, associated with the line of research on education and new scenarios for vocational training, is a field study with a mixed approach. Its purpose is to analyze the impact of emotion management during youth soccer matches at the "Santa Marianita" soccer school in Manta, Ecuador. A 40-item anxiety survey instrument was used, validated and administered on several occasions. A frustration observation form was also administered to players during 12 games in different groups. The sample consisted of 83 subjects aged 10 to 13 years in youth categories at the "Santa Marianita" soccer school. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21, which showed that the majority of survey participants did not feel confused or overexcited. However, a small proportion experienced these feelings occasionally. This is reflected in the high frequency of responses of 0, the low mean (0.39), and the presence of outliers at the upper end. In most cases, the children were completely calm; however, sometimes just hearing a shout from an outside source was enough to reveal states of irritability, frustration, and other negative emotional elements.