Goal orientations, beliefs about success, and performance improvement among young elite Dutch soccer players

Extending past work testing goal perspective theory in sport, one purpose o f this study was to examine, via a longitudinal design, the relationship of goal orientations to the beliefs about the causes of success in the case o f elite male Dutch soccer players. A second purpose was to determine the re lationship of goals and beliefs to ratings of performance. Seventy-five mal e pupils representing five teams from an internationally renowned soccer sc hool in The Netherlands completed the TEOSQ and a measure of their percepti ons of the determinants of success in soccer at the onset and conclusion of one season. Assessments of the coaches' appraisal and athletes' self-repor ted performance in soccer were carried out at the same time. In line with o ther studies, a positive association between ego orientation and the belief that ability or innate talent are determinants of success was revealed. Ta sk orientation was linked to the beliefs that effort, team play, and parent al support contribute to achievement in soccer. An increase in skilled perf ormance over the season (as appraised by the coach) corresponded to a stron ger task orientation and the beliefs that soccer success stems from hard wo rk and having supportive parents.