ABSTRACT

It was not until 1988 that athletic trainers began collecting data and injury reports on thousands of college athletes. Since then, researchers have studied how injuries can affect an athlete biologically, spiritually, and in some cases, financially. Researchers such as Kebede (2013) and Williams (2008) have found that not only does an injury affect athletes physically, but it also changes them mentally and emotionally. Injuries have also been shown to affect the self-esteem and self-efficacy of athletes. This is significant since the relationship between self-efficacy and self-confidence is robust. It was therefore hypothesized that the greater the number of injuries and time away from their sport an athlete suffers, the lower their sports self-confidence score will be. Sixty-nine athletes completed the Vealey’s Sports Self-Confidence Scale (TSCI) and an Injury History Form, sharing their injury history, injury severity, age, ethnicity, and the amount of weeks spent away from their sport because of injury. A Pearson correlation was conducted to examine correlations between demographics, injury history, and sports self-confidence score. The researcher found that male athletes reported a higher score on the sports confidence scale despite missing more games than females because of injury. Furthermore, although males miss more games than females, no significant difference was found in the amount of weeks out due to injury. Overall, this research suggests that student athletes should be more informed by their sport about what kind of toll injuries can take on them mentally and emotionally.