The positive and negative aspects of young people’s involvement in football

Abstract

The majority of young people had been enrolled in a football nursery some time in their life. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate negative and positive aspects of young people’s involvement in football practice within the Maltese nurseries. The participation of youth in football nurseries proved to have numerous positive benefits as well as negative qualities especially during adolescent years. The participants in this study included players from both under 15 and under 17 teams from nine different nurseries. A questionnaire comprising 23 questions was addressed to two hundred and nineteen players. The data acquired was evaluated through the use of excel and includes descriptive statistics and graphs. Results exhibit that football participation provides an excellent pathway for young people to develop soft skills such as assertiveness as well as an opportunity to enhance their potential. Participants have mentioned a number of factors regarding their motivation to be part of a team. Through their participation they have fun, learn to be disciplined and develop life skills, socialise and make new friends. However, statistics demonstrate that young players need to strike a balance between the demands that come from their academic education and football nurseries. Emergent results exhibit that discrimination amongst players especially during competitive matches, foul language and parental pressure are of major concern to football practice within the nursery environment. Besides, the betting industry which is widely advertised on the internet, match fixing and corruption have damaging long lasting effects on young people and their future. These were also some of the emergent negative aspects of football participation.