A Study on the Worries of Low Achievement Athletes at High School

초록

Purpose: A case study was employed to understand the worries of low achievement athletes at high school. Methods: Three student baseball players of a high school in a northern area of Korea were selected. Video recording, in-depth interview, and records of critical incidents were used to collect the data. Data analysis was completed by an inductive analysis. In order to increase interpretative accuracy and to provide evidence of credibility, the techniques of peer debriefing (discussion with colleagues) and member checking (research participants’ review) were employed. Results and Conclusions: The results showed that the worries student-athletes with low marks included the worry in school life, the worry within the sports team, and the worry by inferiority. Poor sports and learning ability were the causes for the worry in their school life, such as confusion about their ego-identity and isolation from the classroom. All three students thought themselves as victims of the system. The worries in the sports team were conflicts with and distrust in the leaders and absence of alternative plans for their future. The inferiority resulted from the above two and had close relationship with the worries that the participants had.