Data: Skyview Focus Group

As noted in Table 22, a majority of Skyview students surveyed are single-sport athletes at their school, with only three students participating in another sport. All of the students reported, on the whole, that they participated in their chosen high school athletic activities either because of the “love of sports” (Participant 9), “to get fit” (Participant 1), “get active” (Participant 10), “meet people” (Participant 7), or due to a combination of these four areas. None of the students stated that they desired to pursue the sport at an elite level.

Parent Involvement

The students in the Skyview Focus group perceived that their parents were involved in their athletic activities. Once again, the range of involvement differed for each individual. Nine out of ten of the students reported that their parents were

supportive of their involvement in the sport and supported them financially. Participant 4 stated that his/her parents provided no support for in-school athletics unless the student asked, but were involved in the student’s sporting activities outside of school. Five of the students indicated that their parents were volunteer drivers for their respective teams and sixof the students noted that their parents attended games.

The members of this focus group did not see a need for their parents to increase their involvement, and in one case, the student wanted their parent to decrease their activity noting “I’m more responsible than I use to be” (Participant 7).Every student interviewed said they were satisfied with their parents’ involvement with their athletics, regardless of how they were involved (students considered their parents as involved if they funded the student’s participation, attended or drove to games, or supported or participated in some other capacity, like fundraising). The over-arching sentiment amongst this group was that parents “are involved as much as I want them to be” (Participant 3), either through active involvement and “watching all of my sporting events,” to encouraging their child to go to every practice (Participant 10). In sum, the Skyview group felt that the parent support was good. “They do enough!” exclaimed Participant 9.

Research Question 1

How does perceived parental involvement in students’ high school athletic

activities relate to students’ sense of self-efficacy?

All of the Skyview athletes that were interviewed felt that participating in athletics increased their personal confidence levels. Once again, being a leader or follower on his/her respective team(s) seemed to be irrelevant to whether or not participation increased each student’s personal self-efficacy. In some cases, athletics gave these students an opportunity to increase their self-confidence, as students noted that participation in a sport helped thembelieve they could successfully compete.

Participation also increased their engagement in the community, helping them get to know more people (participants 4, 7, 8, and 9). Participant 3 reported that, although generally a “shy person at school…during sports I am a lot more extroverted, so I make a lot of friends and get to know the teachers which makes me feel more confident.” Feeling more self-confident through experiencing game situations (Participant 2) and seeing their own continuing improvement in their sport (Participant 9) was also a factor two of the participants noted as improving their personal self-efficacy.

As summarized by Participant 1, this group of students, on the whole, believed that they “go to school for academics and for sports, but sports always comes first.” This may be related to the finding that Skyview students tended to be more competitive athletes focused on only one sport, whereas Oakwood students were generalists in their more eclectic approach to sport.

All of the Skyview focus group members also stated that being involved in high school athletics was a key factor in them developing interpersonal relationships. Participant 3 said she had made many new friends because of her participation in sports, noting “Many are because of sports. I have met girls in all different grades and become better friends with them. It has definitely broadened my social circle.” Other participants also shared that they made new friends. “I have met lots of new friends by playing basketball and volleyball. By playing sports we get to know each others’

personalities better” (Participant 6). Through the discussion, the group seemed to agree with Participant 1, “if it wasn’t for sports, I would have limited friendships and not the ones I have now.”With the Skyview focus group, high school athletics appeared to be a

conduit for individuals to form new interpersonal relationships, augmenting their existing group of friends.

Research Question 2

How does perceived parental involvement in students’ high school athletic

activities relate to students’ sense of academic success?

There was a contradiction in what Skyview students reported about academic success on the written questionnaire and in the focus group. On the questionnaire every student in this group noted that they had not noticed any changes in their academics due to athletics. However, when asked about academics in the focus group, four of the ten students identified experiencing a positive effect from their participation in athletics. Participant 1, for example, stated scholarship opportunities as a motivation for doing better in class, as most academic scholarships in Canadian universities also require above average academic grades. Participant 3 felt that participation in high school sports was positive because there was an opportunity “to get to know a lot of teachers [who also coached] who can help…in areas other than soccer.” Participant 3 noted that they also asked teammates for help in academic subject areas. From their perspective, taking part in high school athletics seemed to have a positive effect on their academic achievement. This contradiction in the findings may be due to the nature of focus group interactions, which allowed participants to build on the comments of other group

members, expanding the opportunity to engage in deep discussions of issues and think differently about the questions asked (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007).