Theoretical framework

This part of the paper presents and discusses theories and concepts pertinent to this study. Several

studies and theories have proven that this concept has big help in a student-athlete perception about

motivation in no failing grades.

Motivation

It is the needs, desires, wants or what drives someone to do something. It is the process of

stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work goal context, the psychological factors

stimulating the people’s behavior can be, desire for money, success, recognition, job-satisfaction, team

work (Junuja, P. 2015). There are two categories of motivation a) Intrinsic Motivation- someone is motivated by

their internal desires. Student-athletes participate in sports because they enjoy what they are doing, and they want to

improve more their skills and talents. b) Extrinsic Motivation- someone is motivated by their external rewards.

Athletes doesn’t want to disappoint their parents, or they don’t want to lose their scholarship in school to they tend to

focus on the competitive or performance outcome.

Theories of motivation:

1. Self Determination Theory

Athletes are being motivated to grow and change through the major psychological needs (Ryan

& Deci 2000): a) Autonomy- feelings that they have the ability to direct their own life, which they will

act independently. b) Competence- they are skilled and capable, athletes are confident that they can do the

task and accomplish it well. c) Relatedness- feeling of belongingness that you don’t feel like being

separated from others. Athletes feel that they are connected to each other. This type of motivation pushes

an athlete go beyond with their abilities. Other coaches or trainers use other types of rewards to motivate
the athletes. For example: Coaches hire for speakers that can motivate and inspire the athletes to reach

their dreams and goals.

2. Achievement Based Motivation

It is the hard work of an athlete to become successful on their chosen fields. Students athletes

attempts to overcome the obstacles or challenges that they are facing.

3. Reinforcement

We apply reinforcement every day without realizing that we are doing it. This is a simple

description of a reinforce (Skinner, 1938). For example, coaches tell their athletes “job well done” after

he did well on his chosen sport. After being appreciated by their coaches, athletes have the probability to

increase their performance level. There are four types of reinforcement: a) Positive Reinforcement-

athletes are being praised or they are given a rewards which will make them repeat what they have done

to be praised again. b) Negative Reinforcement- taking something negative away in order to increase a

response. c) Punishment- adding something aversive in order to decrease a behavior. For example, when

an athlete is misbehaving, their coaches punish them by doing additional exercises. The reason why they

are doing this is to lessen the behavior of the athlete. In order not to be punish again the athlete will

behave.

The effective use of positive reinforcement creates better learning and skill development

situations for athletes, helps lower athlete anxiety and increase athlete confidence, and makes athletes

more likely to return for the next season. And coaches that use reinforcement effectively get higher

athlete satisfaction ratings compared to coaches who don’t (Driska, 2019).

A motivation represents a lack of intention to engage in a behavior. It is accompanied by feelings

of incompetence and a lack of connection between one’s behavior and the expected outcome. For

example, a motivated athlete might be heard saying, ‘I can’t see the point in training any more – it just
tires me out’ or ‘I just don’t get any buzz out of competition whatsoever’. Such athletes exhibit a sense of

helplessness and often require counselling, as they are highly prone to dropping out. Each and every one

of us has an untapped energy source that can be drawn upon to bring about superior results. Enhancing

motivation is fundamentally about a change of attitude, developing a positive ‘can do’ mindset and

engaging in systematic behaviors – the short-term process goals – that facilitate improvement. If you have

a leadership role in sports, you will have considerable influence on how motivated your athletes or team

might feel. You can instill a good work ethic, recognize individual effort and instigate transparent reward

structures that reinforce people’s sense of competence. To work best, the techniques mentioned in this

article need to be molded around specific circumstances and the needs of individual athletes. Always

strive to be original and innovative in the application of motivational techniques.

Student-Athlete

Student-Athletes are strong and independent person, who hardly works on their studies at the

same time having their training on their respective event/sports. Being a student-athlete, they need to give

more priority on their academic performance before their athletic performance because if they fail at least

one of their subjects, their scholarship will be affected. It is not easy to become a student- athlete, it will

need to invests time, effort, hard work, and sweat. But there is also a good outcome in becoming a

student- athlete, it will make you strong, healthy, and a discipline person. They will also learn to balance

their studies and trainings, and they will improve their leadership as well. They might also motivate other

students to join in any sports activity.