True-Sport-Report

The Influence
of Friends and Peers
Research on influences in sport frequently
overlooks the significant role that friends
and peers can play in the sport experience.
Peers are important to the socialization of
all children, inside and outside sport. 175,176
Numerous surveys and studies have found
that establishing friendships is an important
reason for beginning and staying in
sport. 152 Keresztes et al. 177 studied the sport
participation of adolescent girls and found
that friends, classmates, and boy/girlfriends
are likely to influence sport-related
behaviors.
Positive peer experiences in sport contribute
to enjoyment, motivation, and
future participation. 178 Likewise, negative
peer experiences, involving harassment,
trash talking, and abusive language toward
teammates, create a destructive environment,
especially for the least athletically
talented on a team. With regard to teammates,
children identify misbehavior,
selfishness, ridicule, loss of self-control,
and dishonesty as having negative effects
on their own experience as well as on
the team. 39 These perceptions are at play
during practices and before, during, and
after games.
These dynamics can be complicated,
however. Although close positive relationships
on teams can promote the intrinsic
rewards of sport, too much focus on group
acceptance can promote unsportsmanlike
He showed me how to .
play this game, day in
and day out. I thank him
for his example and .
for his friendship.
Former Major League Baseball .
Player Cal Ripken, talking about .
his teammate Eddie Murray of the .
Baltimore Orioles
play. 178
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