Browsing by Author "Väliheikki, Anton"

The purpose of the study was to investigate 7-9 years old children’s hobby in a football club in Espoo. In my research I’m studying the players motivation, goals and the amount of practice in football club Leppävaaran Pallo ry. Earlier studies done on the same topic have focused on youth and adult players and therefore I feel that I’m making an important contribution in to this topic by focusing on a different age group. The theoretical framework of the research is based on children’s psychological, physical and motor development and also on motivation and goal orientation theory. The data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews. I interviewed five girls and four boys in November and in December 2016 in Leppävaara.The interviewees will be 8 years old in 2017. Prior to the actual interviews, I also conducted one experimental interview which enabled me to find out that the method I was about to use was appropriate for this study. I selected content analysis and counting as analytical methods for my study. According to the interviews, one of the most obvious motives for the players to play football is to learn new skills. The players felt that developing as a player and new challenges are important sources for motivation. In the children’s interviews, playing was also regarded as a very important and meaningful activity. Although the games were Important for both boys and girls, winning and success weren’t considered so important. More important than winning and gaining success in the competitions was playing itself and enjoyment from the games.Social relationships were also considered important and they felt the importance of getting new friends and getting to practice with their friends. The goals of the girls were to get in to the Finnish national team, while the boys in turn wanted to be professionals. Both girls and boys had three times a week exercises. All the players also practiced at their own time. There were no distinctions between genders with regards how they practiced at their own time. Based on the findings it can be well stated that playing, learning new skills and a competent coach are important factors that affects children’s motivation.