Youth Athletes' Interpretations of Punishment in Hockey

The purpose of this study was to explore competitive youth hockey athletes’ interpretations of punishment. Semi-structured interviews and concept maps were conducted with 12 (7 male and 5 female) hockey athletes between the ages of 11-13 years. All data were analyzed according to inductive thematic analysis (Braun Clarke, 2006). Results revealed that punishments reportedly occurred in competitive hockey frequently in the forms of benching, yelling, and forced physical conditioning; in addition, these methods appear to be normalized within the sport context, and reportedly have detrimental effects on athletes. The findings are interpreted according to various theoretical frameworks, which include: the sport ethic (Hughes Coakley, 1991), cognitive-motivational-relational theory (Lazarus, 1999), psychosocial development (Erikson, 1968), and youth sport attrition (Weiss Williams, 2004). Implications and recommendations for future research in this field of study are discussed.M.Sc