Psychological Satisfaction Of Male Kenya Rugby Union-Registered University Rugby Players With Technical And Institutional Managerial Support

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological satisfaction amongst male rugby teams in Kenyan Universities with regard to Technical and Institutional support. A descriptive survey research design was used in order to establish levels of player satisfaction amongst university rugby teams. A total sample of 91 rugby players drawn from 3 public and 4 private universities registered by the Kenya Rugby Union took part in the study. A modified version of the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ) developed by Riemer and Chelladurai (2002) was used to collect data on demographics like age, experience and year of study. Data was also collected on player satisfaction variables which included team support, individual performance and recognition, role of the coach, team task contribution and university sports services. The data collected was analyzed using means, percentages, standard deviations, t-tests, and one way ANOVA at 0.05 level of significance. The overall means for player responses ranged between 2.65 and 3.73 for private universities but between 2.68 and 4.01 for public universities on a 5-point Likert scale. Tukey Kramer‟s post hoc tests were also carried out to determine sources of mean differences. Findings indicated that there were significant differences in 4 factors of Team Task Contribution, 3 factors in Team Support, 4 factors in Individual Performance and Recognition, 1 factor in Role of Coach and 1 factor in University Sports Services. There was a marked dissatisfaction with University Sports Services in general with means less than 2.5 which is the average. Aspects of Team Support like media and medical support also contributed to dissatisfaction. The role played by coaches contributed immensely to player satisfaction with mean of 3.77, well above the average. The findings indicate that universities need to invest more on equipment, facilities, incentives and financial support. This is where satisfaction by rugby players was lowest ranging between 1.74 to 2.9. Universities need to constantly monitor their rugby teams and encourage more team support and University community support. There is need, however, for further research on levels of satisfaction for other sports teams in Kenya and to use large samples in order to check for any mediating variables in player satisfaction. Some of the variables like role of the coach or team support could be investigated deeper to find out how these contribute to player satisfaction on their own.