Investigation of mental toughness levels of footballers playing in amateur leagues

Aim: The aim of this research is to examine the mental endurance levels of football players playing in amateur football leagues in Ankara according to some variables (age, league, football club, position, sports age, marital status, education level, status, income perception, harmful habit, weekly training day). In line with the data obtained, it is thought that the differences according to these variables will be determined and contribute to the literature. Material and Method: While 525 football players(it is generally accepted that there are 25 amateur football players in each team) in 8 football teams competing in Ankara super amateur league in the 2021-2022 season and 13 football teams competing in the 1st amateur league constitue the research, the sample of the research consists of 408 football players who are competing in the Ankara super amateur league and the 1st amateur league in the 2021-2022 season, who agreed to participate in the research voluntarily. The data has been collected by the researcher by sending questionnaires to the teams via Google Drive and by interviewing some teams face to face with the football players in the Ankara super amateur league and competing in the 1st amateur league. "Mental Toughness Inventory in Sports" developed by Sheard et al. (67) and consisting of 14 items has been used in order to determine the level of mental toughness in the sports environment. In addition, the 'Personal Information Form' developed by the researcher has been applied to collect information about the football players who are the subject of the research. Results: The findings obtained as a result of the Anova Test performed according to the sports age variable of the football players participating in the research has been examined, a statistically significant difference has been found in the total sub-dimension scores of the participants' mental toughness scale compared to the sports age variable (p<0.05). Conclusion: As a result of the findings obtained in the examination of amateur football players according to the sports age variable in the mental toughness scale, it has been concluded that the mental toughness levels of the football players with high sports age are high. Keywords: Amateurism, Amateur Sports, Football, Mental Toughness, Sports.