Role of Motivation for participation in Cricket at college level

INTRODUCTION

Sports life refers to the life full of action and physical activities which plays significant role in the maintenance and promotion of health, minimising the chances of stress, diabetes, blood pressure, obesity and osteoporosis (Jones, et al., 1998; & Vuori, 1995). To obtain these vital health benefits of physical activities, need of the hour is, that motivation of the masses should be encouraged to enhance their participation in sports and physical activities. Adolescence is the phase of life associated with the physical, social, psychological and bodily changes, which affect life pattern and direction of life is at stake in this particular age (Ayers, 2010)). Interest and involvement in sports activities is also subject to the trend of the adolescents towards their participation in physical activity (PA). Young students of college level who pass through the middle stage of adolescence are mostly subject to the changes in living conditions as they are heading towards the next stage of life. Students' daily lives are characterised by dozens of parameters including study in their classes followed by homework, participation in sports, hobbies, interests and other assignments in the daily life. However, focus of this research study is to evaluate their trend towards participation in PA and sports.

This is an important aspect of life in this age group, as the future patterns of adulthood health, trend of life, and recreational engagement are also determined at this stage of life. In addition to that, lack of PA in this age group can have serious health consequences in later life. Youngsters’ sports participation (SP) is often motivated by questions about their benefits either external or internal in other words motivated extrinsically or intrinsically (Soares et al., 2013). Cricket is one of the most famous games with rich traditions of healthy competition and prestigious core of interaction among players. Official Cricket competitions are conducted to outdo the rival in terms of scoring more score in batting. In addition, the game of Cricket is also regarded as the game of “Lords” and “lord” of the games. Physical requirement of the game includes perfect eyesight, eye-hands and eye-feet coordination, fitness and agility on part of the player. The game of Cricket needs a lot of energy and motivation to excel in performance during competition.

The skill of playing, confidence & temperaments, and psychological stability of the players are the factors that determine domination in performance. Reaching a professional level is an incredible challenge for everyone, as the game of Cricket requires highly developed skill, agility and competency in different departments of the game. Its winning strategy requires well-deserved overall performance, high level of skills in different departments, better training and high level of physical fitness. The popularity of Cricket has made it an attractive recreational activity for the lovers.

From work and education to personal goals, motivation in many areas of life is one of the most important psychological concepts. In sports and PA, stimulation and motivation plays an important role due to the fact that for millions of people, staying fit and active is not a duty or professional condition, but a personal goal. People who are motivated tend to do something. Therefore, people who want to participate in a task may be characterised as motivated, while those who do not feel any motivation to participate in an activity may be characterised as inactive and a motivated. Although the above statement is quite familiar, different people may have thoughts of some different views of motivation. For example, inspiration should be viewed through the results of various behaviours. Another meaning of inspiration presents development as a mental force that empowers activity. Despite the fact that analysts differ in their perceptions, a few of them consider success to be a key component for motivation of the individual, other claim that motive of most of the participants in PA is only maintenance and promotion of health, yet other ones argue that participation in PA and sports is associated with the fame, popularity and social status of the role model player of the game.

The word motivation stems back to the Latin term “Mover” standing for the state of being moved or to move. Motivation is the innate drive and refers to the state of readiness to behave in a particular way to attain something or to avoid certain situation (Islary & Khan, 2016). Intrinsic and extrinsic are the two main types of motivation. On the other hand, there is another form of motivation called “a motivation”; wherein the person is neither motivated nor non-motivated but take the activity as worthless (Ryan, 2006). Extrinsic motivation (EM) is a complex phenomenon that focuses upon the associated benefits of certain action or behaviour (Symes, 2014). And is directed towards achieving a goal.

In the context of the purpose of engaging in sports, experts often focus on the difference between internal and external stimuli. Intrinsic motivation (IM) is a kind of stimulus refers to everything that moves from within, that is, activities that represent a goal, while external stimulus refers to an external drive, that is, when the activity represents a means to an end. It is important to investigate the role of an incentive (EM) regarding engagement in sports among the adolescents regarding the frequency and duration of PA. With the student population, it is usually assumed that male students are more motivated by internal factors (IM), or in other words by the need for strength, competition, entertainment, recreation and challenge, while a large number of female students are driven by stimuli, such as weight control and appearance (EM).

Literature Review

Motivation is one of the most important psychological ideas in many areas of life, from work and training to personal goals. In sports and PA, stimulation plays an important role, which is why for millions of people around the world, staying fit and active is not a responsibility or professional requirement, but rather a personal objective of life. Some people are affected by factors related to IM, while others are affected by factors related to EM and some by combinations of both (Wattimena, 2015). Internal and external stimuli indicate variables or rewards that a person tries to attain. To be specific, IM is a kind of motivation that comes out of the happiness.

The reasons of participating in youth sports activities are 'joy', 'physical well being', 'making some incredible memories', 'partnership', 'energy or love of the game', and 'companion relations. Understanding different types of motivation that are involved to get engaged in Cricket was the pivot of the present research study. Long-term participation in sports is a very promising sign for future life. The results of this study may help coaches and trainers understand which type of sports motivation affects and how to keep the Cricket players engaged in sports for a long time.

Motivation for Sports Participation

The principle focal point of this research study was to comprehend the explanations for why an individual would decide to partake in sports and general physical exercises. The motives behind taking an interest are not generally steady with the exploration on physical and psychological well-being benefits. Presently the idea behind motivation in perspectives of social media has been new one and very limited literature has discussed this aspect of motivation (Khan, Nizami & Parmar, 2022). There are numerous reasons why people decide to take part in physical movement, including sports (Clancy, 2016). Main motives for participation in sports include having some good times, having a place with a gathering, getting fit, improving aptitudes, being effective, picking up acknowledgement, and discovering new areas of interest.

Motivation has been the subject of consideration from a large group of people, including dramatists, rationalists, and clinicians. Analysts, specifically, have taken this issue as one of the social factor associated with everyday life (Foster, 2016). A broadly acknowledged meaning of motivation refers to the concept of internal inspiration (intrinsic) as well as external attraction of the activity (extrinsic) powers that force and guide the person to initiate the activity (Wendling, 2019). Motivation provides bases for the start of certain behaviour and activity that satisfy internal desire or leads to serve the external interest of the participant (L.G Pelletier et al., 2013). Studies have demonstrated that 38% of undergrads routinely take interest in low intensity PA and just 20% partake in moderate PA, while 26% participate in high intensity vigorous PA (Amoura, 2017). Main types of motivation are as under:

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation deals with the internal satisfaction and recreation associated with the activity like fun, entertainment, recreation and mental satisfaction etc. The person is intrinsically motivated who participate in an activity for the sake of satisfaction of the inner-self (Koruç, 2017).

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is always driven by the external reward associated with the activity. A person who is motivated to do something for the substantial gains rather than for the sake of recreation or fun, is extrinsically motivated (Sindik, 2018).

Methodology

Objectives

1. To explore the relationship between extrinsic motivation and sports participation of Cricket players

2. To explore the relationship between intrinsic motivation and sports participation of Cricket players

3. To compare difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and sports participation of Cricket players

Hypotheses

1. H1: There will be a significant relationship between extrinsic motivation and sports participation of Cricket players

2. H1: There will be a significant relationship between intrinsic motivation and sports participation of Cricket players

3. H1: There will be significant differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and sports participation of Cricket players

Discussion

Motivation for sporting activities has become a very popular area of interest among sports psychologists (Cerar et al., 2017). Considerable work has also been done in this regard. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that “statistically significant factors of differences in motivation to participate in sporting activities among college level Cricket players were found. The present study found that EM has no significant association with the level of participation of the college students in Cricket. Findings of the present study differ in terms of IM and EM of the respondents towards participation in the game (Del Pilar Vílchez, & De Francisco, 2017). The study has confirmed that IM was significantly associated with sports participation of the Cricket players. A study of (Jakobsen, 2014). also endorses finding of the present study who has concluded that majority of the adolescents participate in sports for their intrinsic motivation. Pearson Correlation analysis was done to identify any association between different types of motivation and sports participation and no significant association was found between these variables other than IM. Thus, it was concluded that intrinsic motivation is a significant factor for Cricket players to consistently participate in sports.

Conclusion

Unstable analysis of variability did not reveal any significant association between EM and sports participation as shown in Table 5 (p = 0.739) and Table 3 (r = 0.066). Thus, the hypothesis number one was rejected. The analysis revealed a significant association between IM and sports participation, as shown in Table-8 (r = 1.000) and Table-9 (p = 0.006). Thus, hypothesis number two was accepted. These results are similar to Clancy's (2016) because his work also indicates a positive alliance between IM and participation in sports.