Fun, effort and self-confidence

Sports Psychology

The number one reason that kids play sports is “fun” and similarly, if they become sports dropouts, they typically report that a sport is no longer “fun.” As adults, we often think of “fun” for kids as laughing, fooling around with friends and goofing off. Obviously, that type of fun isn’t very compatible with the more serious and achievement orientation of most kids who play sports. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly even Olympic level athletes rate “fun” equal with the pursuit of excellence as the primary incentives for them in their sport. (Snyder, 2014).