Determination of value types and value systems of youth recreative and competitive athletes

The aim of this study is to determine the value types and value systems of competitive and recreational youth athletes. Student athletes from different schools, sports clubs and sports schools in Denizli participated in the study. The study group consisted of 471 athletes (mean = 15.73 ± 1.29) of whom 199 were female and 272 were male. Youth Sport Values Questionnaire, Youth Sport Values Questionnaire-2 and Competitive Atitude Scale were used as data collection tools. According to the analyzes, it was found that the most important 3 values of the atheletes were "personal achievemen" (mean=4.41±0.91), team cohesion (mean =4.36±0.99) and fairness (mean=4.34±1.05); the least important 3 values of the atheletes were "public image" (mean=3.34±1.57), "tolerance" (mean=2.91±1.68) and "winning" (mean=2.34±1.78), respectively. The most important value types were found "Competence"(mean=4.08±0.78), "Moral" (mean = 4.36 ± 0.72) and "Status"(mean = 2.59 ± 1.35) respectively. The Competitiveness Levels (mean=3.61 ± 0.51) of the athletes were found between the middle and upper level. As a result of the regression analysis, moral, competence and status variables explain %36 of the total variance in the competitveness level (R=0.602, R2=362, p=.000). Moreover, there were significant differences found between the value types and gender, competitive or recreational aim and the type of sports.