Gender and type of sport differences on perceived coaching behaviours, achievement goal orientations and life aspirations of youth Olympic games Singaporean athletes

Several confounding factors, such as culture, athlete profiles, levels of competition and type of sport, have resulted in inconsistent findings in studies on gender differences in youth sports. This study examined the gender and type of sport differences on perceived coaching behaviours, achievement goal orientations and life aspirations in a new international event-youth Olympic games (YOG). Singaporean athletes (61 males and 40 females) who took part in the YOG were recruited for the study. Significant gender differences in perceived coaching behaviours were found. Male athletes reported significantly higher levels of goal setting, mental preparation and competitive strategies than the female athletes did. In addition, athletes in individual sports reported higher degree of mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance and intrinsic life goals as compared to the athletes from team sports, while team sports reported significant higher degree of performance-avoidance and extrinsic life goals than individual sports. The results were discussed with reference to the existing literatures on gender and type of sport differences in youth sports. Practical applications were also proposed.