High school athletes' perspectives on character development through sport participation

Background: Results from empirical research on character development in sport remain mixed concerning the outcomes of sport participation, in part because character is a socially constructed concept that can be interpreted in a wide variety of manners. Furthermore, the majority of research in this field has been conducted employing quantitative methodologies and little is known concerning athletes' experiences and perceptions of character development in sport. Taking into consideration this information, this study proposes to use qualitative methodologies to examine character development using A. Rudd's framework of character development in sport from 2005. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to document the perspectives of high school athletes on the development using Rudd's framework of character development in sport participation in a Canadian context. Participants and setting: Participants were recruited from a French-speaking high school of about 1000 students in the province of Quebec in Canada. Twenty student athletes (10 male, 10 female) from the four sports offered at this school (basketball, volleyball, soccer, and badminton) voluntarily agreed to take part in this study. Data collection: Interviews ranging from 30 to 63 minutes (M 47) were conducted with each participant. Interviews were conducted in person at a mutually convenient time, either in a private room at school or at the participant's home. Data analysis: Interviews were transcribed verbatim and both researcher and a peer with experience in qualitative research read and reviewed transcripts to identify meaningful responses from athletes. The software NVivo was used to assist in the coding and management of the data. Athletes' responses were categorized according to the social and moral values found in Rudd's framework. Findings: The majority of athletes appear to believe that social character best describes the development that occurs in sport and that gamesmanship is employed and legitimized as being part of the game. Conclusions: School administrators and coaches must be proactive and include character development initiatives in their programming in order to promote moral development and reduce incidences of gamesmanship in high school sports.