Determination of University Athletes Character through Sport Participation in Niger Delta of Nigeria

Abstract

There is increasing reports concerning the character displayed by athletes on and off the field of play. These reports are not far different from the ones observed in Nigerian University sports. This worrisome report has necessitated this study carried out on determining the character of university athletes in Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The descriptive survey design was utilized for determining the character traits possessed by university athletes in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The population consisted of four thousand two hundred and six (4206) university athletes, out of which four hundred and sixteen were sampled through systematic random sampling. A four point scale questionnaire was self-designed with reliability index of 0.65 and 0.61 alpha levels for social and moral character respectively. Mean and independent t-test statistics were used to determine levels and significant differences amongst the groups studied. The results show that athletes possessed low social and moral character traits in sports; there were significant differences between male and females and between contact and non-contact sport athletes in moral and social character. It is recommended that coaches should pay attention to character of athletes and be character role models.

Keywords: character, sport participation, social and moral character