Volume : 12, Issue : 8, AUG 2026

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SPORTS COMPETITION ANXIETY AMONG COLLEGE-LEVEL FOOTBALL PLAYERS

DR. ABDUL HYE

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to compare college-level football players’ level of sports competition anxiety. A competition among 12 College Football teams from different general degree colleges viz. Kandi Raj College, Sripat Singh College, Lalgola College, Dumkal College, Murshidabad Adarsha Mahavidyalaya, Raja Birendra Chandra College, Haji A K Khan College, Jangipur College, Jalangi Mahavidyalaya, Prof. Syed Nurul Hasan College, S. R. Fatepuria College, and Subhas Chandra Bose Centenary College of Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India; was attended for the study. Male football players from the Inter-college semifinalist teams (2022–2023) i.e., S. R. Fatepuria College, Prof. Syed Nurul Hasan College, Lalgola College, and Dumkal College of the said district were specifically selected as subjects of the study. To measure sport competition anxiety for the study the Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) questionnaire was used. On the sports competition anxiety variable, information was submitted by 60 male football players. Two descriptive statistics and another inferential statistic were employed to examine the data i.e., mean, standard deviation, and analysis of variance (ANOVA).

It is to conclude that players of all four colleges showed a mean average to a high level of sports competitive anxiety.  Prof. Syed Nurul Hasan College has the highest mean "Competition Anxiety" score (24.86667), indicating potentially higher anxiety levels compared to the other colleges listed. Additionally, one can observe the variability within each group by looking at the standard deviations. For example, Dumkal College has a slightly higher standard deviation compared to the other colleges, suggesting more variability in "Competition Anxiety" scores within that group.

Again, it is to conclude that insignificant differences exist between Dumkal College and Prof. Syed Nurul Hasan College, Dumkol College and S. R Fatepuria College and so on so far as the completion anxiety of the football players is concerned. Significant differences in competitive anxiety levels exist between Prof. Syed Nurul Hasan College and Lalgola College and the same way between Prof. Syed Nurul Hasan College and S.R. Fatepuria College.

Article : Download PDF

Cite This Article

IESRJ

International Educational Scientific Research Journal

E-ISSN: 2455-295X

International Indexed Journal | Multi-Disciplinary Refereed Research Journal

ISSN: 2455-295X

Peer-Reviewed Journal - Equivalent to UGC Approved Journal

Peer-Reviewed Journal

Article No : 8

Number of Downloads : 120

References

1. Arnold LeUnes (2011). sport psychology. A Practical Guide. Icon Books Ltd, London.

2. Borkovec, T. D., Robinson, E., Pruzinsky, T., and DePree, J. A. (1983). Preliminary Exploration of Worry: Some Characteristics and Processes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21, 9-16.

3. Burton, D. (1988). Do anxious swimmers swim slower? Reexamining the elusive anxiety-performance relationship. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10, 45–61.

4. David Carless and Kitrina Douglas (2010). Sport and Physical Activity for Mental Health. A John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., Publication. United Kingdom.

5. Dunn, J. G. H. (1999). A theoretical framework for structuring the content of competitive worry in ice hockey. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 21, 259–279.

6. Dunn, J. G. H., & Nielsen, A. B. (1993). A between-sport comparison of situational threat perceptions in ice hockey and soccer. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 15, 449–465.

7. Dunn, J. G. H., and Nielsen, A. B. (1996). A classificatory system of anxiety inducing situations in four team sports. Journal of Sport Behavior, 19, 111–131.

8. Dunn, J. G. H., Causgrove Dunn, J., Wilson, P., and Syrotuik, D. G. (2000). Reexamining the factorial composition and factor structure of the Sport Anxiety Scale. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 22, 183–193.

9. Gaudry, E., and Spielberger, C. D. (1971). Anxiety and Educational Achievement. New York: Wiley.

10. Martens, R. (1977). Sport Competition Anxiety Test. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

11. Matt Jarvis (1999). Sport psychology. Routledge, New York.

12. Richard H. Cox. (2002). Sports psychology concepts and applications. Mcgraw-Hill Companies Inc. New York.

13. Smith, J., & Jones, A. (2020). A comparative study of competitive anxiety among professional and amateur football players. Journal of Sports Psychology, 20(6), 18-28.