Competitive Anxiety in Young Basketball Players from the Real Madrid Foundation

Abstract

Competition during the sports training process should aid young athletes’ overall development. The aim of this study was to ascertain the levels of competitive anxiety in athletes who practice basketball at the Real Madrid Foundation (RMF)’s Social-Sports Schools, and to analyze whether any differences exist in regard to anxiety in the various subscales that take into account gender, participation in the RMF’s internal competitions, and basketball modalities (mini basketball/basketball). The study sample consisted of 320 players (224 boys and 96 girls) belonging to the following different age groups: 8–9-year-olds, 10–11-year-olds, 12–13-year-olds, and 14–15-year-olds (M = 10.54; SD = 1.92). The Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2) was used in the version translated and validated in Spanish. It was found that the athletes displayed low levels of competitive anxiety in all three subscales. No significant differences were observed between the genders, nor between basketball modalities (mini basketball/basketball). Finally, a positive correlation was observed between the various subscales.