Perceived inclusion in youth soccer teams: The role of societal status and perceived motivational goal climate

Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the link between youth soccer players' perceptions of the coach-initiated motivational goal climate within their team and their perceptions of inclusion as a function of societal status. Societal status refers to one's national background which numerically forms the majority or a minority in a particular society. Design and methods: Survey data was collected among 245 male youth soccer players (M = 12.9 years, SD =1.60), who all played in culturally diverse teams in the Netherlands. The societal status of 94 players (38.4%) was majority, and 151 players (61.6%) were classified as minority. To test our main hypothesis, perceived inclusion as the dependent variable was hierarchically regressed on coach-initiated mastery goal climate perceptions, performance goal climate perceptions, societal status, and their interactions. Results: Overall, mastery goal perceptions and performance goal perceptions of intra-team competition were positively and negatively related, respectively, to perceived team inclusion. As hypothesized, only among players with a societal minority status, perceptions of inclusion were higher when mastery goal climate perceptions were higher and performance goal climate perceptions were lower. Discussion and conclusion: Our findings suggest that a coach-initiated mastery-oriented team climate may enhance an inclusive soccer environment in culturally and nationally diverse teams. For societal minority players, intrateam competition should be de-emphasized by the coach in order to strengthen the experience of inclusion.

Automated summary

The study aimed to investigate the link between youth soccer players' perceptions of the coach-initiated motivational goal climate within their team and their perceptions of inclusion as a function of societal status. Results showed that for players from minority societal status, higher perceptions of mastery goal climate were associated with higher levels of perceived inclusion, while lower perceptions of performance goal climate were also linked to higher levels of perceived inclusion.