Abstract
Competition is a pervasive human phenomenon. It commonly occurs in many contexts, but most frequently in sport (Stanne, Johnson, & Johnson, 1999). However, the nature of sport competition, in particular, depends on the situational context. Competition between teams and/or individuals (e.g., league games, tournaments) differs from intra-team competition (e.g., during practice). Much of the literature in sport psychology has focused on competition between teams/individual; there has been little attention paid to intra-team competition. The purpose of this study was to explore athletes’ experiences with intra-team competition.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 university (CIS) team sport athletes (soccer, volleyball, basketball, track and field, hockey; female n=12; age m=20.4, sd=2.2; years experience m=2.9, sd=1.8). Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed inductively resulting in 581 codes. These were grouped into 32 themes.
The results indicated that intra-team competition is an omni-present phenomenon in elite sport teams. Two general types of intra-team competition are common. Discrete or situational competition is used during individual practices to enhance motivation/effort or promote team bonding. Latent, or ongoing positional competition, is used to determine starting roles or the amount of playing time a player will receive. Both types of competition are seen to impact other team processes including performance at the individual and group level, and team cohesion.
The present study suggests intra-team competition is a complex phenomenon. Further research needs to better define and conceptualize the processes of intra-team competition as a psychological team process. Implications and research directions will be discussed.
