BUILDING TEAMWORK IN SPORTS AND ACTVITIES:

ENHANCING COPING SKILLS AND MITIGATING COMPETITION

ANXIETY

A concept presented to the Faculty of Education in partial

fulfillment for the requirements of the
subject BPE 313 Sports and Exercise Psychology

Presented to

DANN IAN G. BROA, MAEd

BPE 313 Instructor

Presented by

SYMONE JAZRYL S. JAIZON

BPEd Student

JULY 2023
 INTRODUCTION

Teamwork plays a crucial role in various sports and groups activities

as it fosters a collaborative and cohesive environment among athletes, leading

to enhanced performance and overall success (Leprince, 2021). In the context

of sports, athletes frequently encounter significant performance expectations,

and this burden can give rise to increased anxiety levels, subsequently

impacting their coping abilities. The fear of failure, negative self-talk, and the

constant comparison with other athletes can exacerbate competition anxiety,

affecting their performance and well-being (Pluhar, 2019). Thus, studying the

impact of building teamwork in sports and activities holds a significant

importance for athletes as it offers implications towards their performance and

the development of supportive team environments. For this reason, it is

essential to grasp the influence of teamwork to gain deeper insights into

shaping training programs, team dynamics, and ultimately empowering

athletes to excel in their sports by enhancing their mental resilience and

emotional well-being.

In various countries, anxiety is one of the psychological factors that

determine the athlete’s motivation towards their psychological aspect. In

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands a study was conducted by Refanthira

(2019) about the Competitive Anxiety in Sports Performer and Various

Treatments to Reduce It. The study depicts that anxiety arises to several

student athlete in their institution is due to the fear of negative evaluations of

the social environment, fear of failure, and lack of self-esteem. Furthermore,

the study highlights that common anxiety experience by the student athlete of

the university was driven by the anxiety associated with a competition or

competitive situation. Thus, the study implies that psychological treatments

are important to optimize the performance of the athletes in the competition so

that the athletes can confidently release their optimal performance and boost

collaborative motivation in every competition (Cox, 2022). The result of the

study suggests conducting more evaluation that dwells towards the

intervention of the mitigating anxiety of the athletes and other ways to reduce

it.

In the Philippine context a study was conducted by Guiriba (2021)

about the Sports Competitive Anxiety and Burnout Level of the Filipino

University Student Athletes. The study encompasses the competitive anxiety

that hinders the Filipino university’s student athlete’s ability to perform at

their best, affecting their ability their confidence and focus during

competitions both national and international setting. The study identified that

burnouts is one of the major concerning issue among Filipino student-athletes,

as it leads the athletes exhaustion, motivation reduction and disengagement

from school sports activities. Alejo (2021) added a response that an effective

intervention program is recommended to meet the pressing need of the

Filipino student-athletes to eliminate or decrease the occurrence of anxiety and

burnout in their daily workload (academic and athletic).

 In Davao Del Sur – the province was known to be rich of breeding

ground of talents in the past, producing some of the outstanding athletes over

the years (Tuason, 2022). However, numerous athletes in the locality had

experienced mitigating anxiety towards the different field and sports track as

they were pressured by the doubts and experience low self-esteem (Augustin,

2023). For this reason, The Davao City Sports Development Division, in

collaboration with the Department of Education XI, launched its sports

education training program for public school coaches and trainers at the

Almendras Gym last July 29, 2022. The program undergoes seminars and

trainings that will cover the local athletes’ psychology, physical therapy,

injury prevention, strength conditioning, and sports physiology. Jonas Piore

(2022) a DepEd XI Senior Education Program Specialist added a response that

cultivating quality coaching in more physical and psychological aspect is

essential in order to establish empowered athletes that can carry their own self

and potential to the world.

Given the different perspective and literatures mentioned above which

greatly contributed to the body of knowledge of the issues and concerns

towards athletes’ mitigating competition anxiety and their coping mechanism

skills to address the identified issue. Nevertheless, limited research has

specifically investigated the potential of building strong and effective

teamwork in sports and activities to lessen the pressure of the athletes

mitigating anxiety. Thus, with thorough consideration of this research gap this

will provide valuable insights into how effective building teamwork in sports
and activities does enhances the coping mechanism and mitigating

competition anxiety toward athletes. This paper could give a sufficient

understanding towards the athletes either students of different organizations

and can benefit the sport coaches to better determine the proposed

intervention.

Moreover, despite the acknowledge significance of teamwork in sports

and activities, there remains a notable gap in our understanding of how to

effectively build and nurture teamwork while simultaneously addressing

competition anxiety among athletes. While individual coping skills are often

emphasized in sports psychology literature, the interplay between these coping

mechanisms and collective dynamics of a team remains relatively unexplored.

Furthermore, limited research exits on practical interventions that can be

implemented to enhance teamwork and reduce competition anxiety, leading to

a dearth of evidence-based approaches in this area. This concept paper aims to

contribute to the essential insights of development of effective teamwork in

sports and activities, with a specific focus on how to bolster coping skills and

alleviate competition anxiety among athletes. Through conducting an in-depth

review of existing literature, and in-depth interview through the identified

respondents this will enable to identify the factors that positively impact

teamwork within sporting context, as well as the mechanism through which

competition anxiety may hinder team cohesion and performance.

To promote the practical implementation of our findings, the

researcher will design workshops and training sessions that incorporate the
evidence-based strategies discussed in the concept paper. These workshops

will be tailored to coaches, sports organizations, and athletes, offering them

concrete tools to build teamwork and cope with competition anxiety

effectively.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

This concept paper seeks to investigate the impact of Building

Teamwork in Sports and Activities towards Enhancing Coping Skills and

Mitigating Competition anxiety. Thus, this paper seeks to answer following

objectives:

1. How does participation in cohesive teams and group activities

influence athletes’ coping mechanism in response to challenges and

setbacks encountered in competitive environments?

2. How do athletes perceive the impact of teamwork on their ability to

manage and reduce competition anxiety during sporting events and

group activities?

3. What are the most common coping strategies employed by athletes and

participants to mitigate competition anxiety?

4. How does effective team communication contribute to reducing

competition anxiety and enhancing coping mechanisms among team

members in sports and group activities?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This study is best understood through the various perspective of

theories related to the study.

This study is anchored to Henir Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory (1970)

in which he posits that individuals derive a significant part of their self-esteem

from their group affiliations, such as sports team. According to Tajfel, people

derive part of their self-identity from the social groups to which they belong.

Moreover, people tend to categorize themselves and others into different

social groups based on shared characteristics such as ethnicity, gender,

nationality, religion or occupation. In this study, Social Identity Theory will

explore how the sense of belonging and camaraderie within teams influences

participants’ coping mechanisms. Additionally, this theory posits that a strong

cohesive team identity can provide social support fostering effective coping

strategies when facing stressors and challenges in competitive environments. It

will be crucial to investigate how athletes' identification with their teams

influences their ability to manage competition anxiety, ultimately impacting

their overall performance and well-being.

This study is also anchored to Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman’s

Coping Theory (1984) often referred to as the Transactional Model of Stress

and Coping, is a prominent psychological framework that explains how

individuals respond to stressful situations and challenges. According to

Lazarus and Folkman, the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping is not
solely determined by external events but rather arises from the individual’s

cognitive appraisal of those events. In the context of this study, this theory

complements the framework as it focus on how individual respond to stress

and demanding situation. Moreover, this theory acknowledges that individuals

adopt various coping strategies to manage stressor effectively. By applying

Coping Theory in this study, the researcher will delve into the coping

mechanisms utilized by athletes and participants in sports and group activities

(Lomotos, 2021). Thus, understanding the coping strategies employed by

individuals in response to competition anxiety can shed light on their adaptive

abilities and resilience.

 METHODS

Research Design

This study will employ narrative design which aims to explore and

conceptualize human experience as it is represented in textual form.

According to Josselson (2018) narrative design is a qualitative research

approach that focuses on understanding and interpreting the stories and

narratives individuals use to make sense of their experiences and construct

their identities. In this study, the researcher will collect and analyze the target

participants personal stories or narratives shared through in-depth interviews

to gain better understanding into their lived experiences, perspectives, beliefs

and emotions.

Population and Sample

The target participants of this study are the five (5) selected athlete

students of Davao Del Sur State College (DDSSC). The term “athlete

students” refers to individuals who are currently enrolled as students at Davao

Del Sur State College and are actively participating in sports and athletic

activities organized by the school. Furthermore, the sampling that will be

employed in this study is random sampling in which in this sampling, every

athlete students within the institution has an equal chance of being selected for

the study. According to Taylor (2020) random sampling is a method that

allows the randomization of sample selection, each sample has the same
prpbability as other samples to be selected to serce as a representation of an

entire population. Thus, in this study this method will be use to ensure that the

sample is represents that each participants characteristics are unbiased

reflected in the research findings.

Research Locale

This study will be carried out in Davao del Sur State College, situated

in Matti, Digos City, Davao del Sur. The Southern Philippines Agri-Business

and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST) – Digos Campus

was once the name of the state college. SPAMAST Digos was separated from

the SPAMAST system, renamed, and inaugurated in February 2020 through

Republic Act No. 11220. It is a public higher educational institution known for

its agricultural programs. DSSC also contributes to national development

through education and the continuous delivery of instruction, research, and

production.

Data Collection

The Collection of the necessary data for the study will be carried out

through the following procedures:

1. Sampling Procedure. The researcher will use random sampling, a list

of athlete students from Davao Del Sur State College will be

generated. Random selection process will be employed to ensure that

every athlete student has an equal chance of being included in the

study.
2. Informed Consent. Before data collection, the researcher will provide

an informed consent which will be obtained from all selected athlete

students. They will be provided with a clear explanation of the research

objectives, the voluntary nature of participation, and their right to

withdraw from the study at any time without consequences.

3. In-Depth Interviews. In-depth interviews will serve as the primary

data collection method for narrative research. Selected athlete students

will be individually interviewed in a private and comfortable setting.

Semi-structured interview guides will be used to encourage

participants to share their personal stories, experiences, and

perspectives related to their involvement in sports and athletic

activities at DDSSC.

4. Narrative Elicitation Techniques. The researcher will employ

narrative elicitation techniques, such as open-ended questions and

prompts, to encourage participants to share their stories in a narrative

format. These techniques help create a conducive environment for

participants to freely express their experiences and emotions.

5. Audio Recording and Transcription. With participants' consent, the

interviews will be audio-recorded to ensure accurate data capture.

Subsequently, the recordings will be transcribed verbatim, preserving

participants' words and expressions in their own voice.

6. Data Analysis. Thematic analysis will be employed to analyze the

interview transcripts. The researcher will identify recurring themes,

 patterns, and narratives that emerge from the athlete students' stories.

The analysis will focus on understanding how the participants

construct their identities, perceive teamwork, cope with challenges,

and manage competition anxiety.

7. Trustworthiness and Validation. Researchers will ensure the

trustworthiness of the findings by employing strategies such as

member checking, where participants review and validate the

interpretations of their narratives. Peer debriefing and reflexivity will

also be incorporated to minimize biases and enhance the rigor of the

study.

8. Ethical Considerations. Throughout the data collection process,

ethical considerations, including confidentiality and anonymity, will be

upheld to protect the privacy and rights of the participants.

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