<jats:p>Many factors are associated with a person’s attitude formation and intention towards a behavior. In this study, we examined organizational factors that helped form young athletes attitudes regarding their future plans in high performance sport. Through a mixed method survey design, data was collected from 207 young pre-elite athletes who competed during the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas. Several organizationally controlled aspects of the games environment were found to contribute to young athlete’s satisfaction with the event including their accommodations, available information regarding their sport and finally, the social and cultural activities during games-time. However, satisfaction with the games environment was not predictive of young athletes future intentions to remain in sport. Qualitative thematic coding denoted two key themes related to athlete plans to continue in high performance sport: level of satisfaction and learning. Further, qualitative results revealed five main impediments to continuing in high performance sport specifically, physiological, psychological, performance, environment and life concerns. The paper contributes to our understanding of the controllable and uncontrollable social and environmental factors in a multi-sport international event. Nationally controlled factors that influence young athletes attitude formation, specifically their satisfaction and intentions to remain in sport.</jats:p>

Purpose

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of sport fans' team identification on their emotional experiences (i.e. vitality and game satisfaction) using two-wave data in a specific sport event during the declaration of the emergency statement in Japan. The study also aims to test the moderating effects of risk perceptions about COVID-19 and the game outcome on the relationship between team identification and vitality/game satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The present research was conducted in the context of a sport event in Tokyo (the Japanese Rugby Top League 2020–2021 Season Playoff Tournament Final) during the declaration of the emergency statement period in Japan. The data were collected through a two-wave design (before and after the game) from the spectators of the event.

Findings

Team identification significantly predicted higher vitality after the game but not game satisfaction. Additionally, the moderation test found that sport fans with high social risk perception about the COVID-19 showed a positive relationship between team identification and vitality but not for the fans with low social risk perception.

Practical implications

The present results suggest that sport events can be advertised for sport fans as a tool to increase physical and psychological energy in their daily lives during the pandemic.

Originality/value

The present study demonstrated that team identification predicted greater vitality after the spectatorship during the COVID-19 outbreak. In particular, higher social risk perception was a significant catalyst to improve vitality after the game.

People’s lives have drastically changed since the outbreak of COVID-19. One concern during the pandemic has been the level of inactivity among people. Compared to various generations (e.g., baby boomers, generation alpha), Generation Z (Gen Z) traditionally spends much less time in outdoor spaces. Due to the pandemic, their inactiveness is assumed to be even more severe. Hiking, an outdoor activity, has become a possible remedy for young people to exercise in a safer sport environment compared to traditional facility-based activities. Although various studies have supported the link between motivations and hiking intention, the relationship may be altered based on psychological influences unique to the pandemic situations—perceived risk and coping appraisals. The current study was conducted to investigate the relationship between Gen Z’s motivations and hiking intention and moderating roles of perceived risk and coping appraisals in a pandemic environment. Data were collected from Gen Z between 18 and 24 in China (N = 407). The validity and reliability of all the constructs were assessed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), average variance extracted (AVE), and composite reliability. For testing hypotheses, PROCESS Macro 4.0 was used. The findings proposed that the appraisals of the pandemic situation (i.e., perceived risk and coping ability) moderated the relationship between two of the motivations—intellectual and destination motivations—and hiking intention. As a result, organizers of outdoor sports programs can implement viable strategies and take valid measurements to minimize the fear and worries among people in the time of the crisis.

Previous research in evolutionary psychology has highlighted the potential role of facial structures in explaining human behavior. The facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) was found to be associated with testosterone-driven behavioral tendencies like achievement drive, aggression, and sporting success. The current study aimed to replicate such relationships using real-world data (i.e., professional basketball players; <italic>N</italic> = 482). Achievement drive, aggression, and sporting success were operationalized as field-goal attempts (FGA), the number of fouls committed (Foul), and player performance rating (EFF), respectively. The results indicated that fWHR was significantly associated with FGA and EFF, controlling for minutes of play and body-mass-index. The same results were obtained for separate analyses focusing on outsider players. However, analyses of inside players demonstrated that fWHR was associated only with EFF. The current research further provides empirical evidence supporting the effects of fWHR on achievement drive and sporting successes, although the effect sizes are notably small.

<jats:p>Basic psychological needs (BPN) are a construct that helps clarify the psychological mechanism to reach desirable outcomes for youth athletes. When BPN are undermined, people should be less likely to thrive. As mental toughness (MT) can reduce the negative effects of stressors, MT may buffer the negative effects of maladaptive motivation. This study investigated the mediating role of thriving on the relationships between BPN thwarting and important outcomes for youth athletes’ positive functioning. It also examined the buffering effects of MT. One hundred eighty-eight Canadian youth athletes (<jats:italic>M</jats:italic><jats:sub>age</jats:sub> = 15.51) answered an online survey. The results demonstrated that thriving was a significant mediator, and the indirect relationships were moderated by MT. The indirect associations were nonsignificant for youth with high MT. The findings demonstrated that MT might decrease the negative impacts of BPN thwarting on thriving and important outcomes for young athletes.</jats:p>