In the wake of declining participation across many sports, confused sporting identities, and mixed performances across some of Australia’s most iconic national teams, now is the time to take a step back and ask a fundamental question: what are our young athletes striving for?

It’s easy to reduce performance to metrics: wins and losses, selections, and statistics. But behind every jersey number is a story...one woven from personal motivations, family expectations, coaching environments, and evolving identities. This blog post draws from recent academic research and insights from my PhD project investigating the personal strivings of elite youth male rugby union players in Queensland. What emerges is not just a discussion on performance, but a challenge to rethink how we support the whole athlete.

The Missing Link: Strivings Over Scores

Drawing on the work of Emmons (1986), personal strivings are defined as what individuals are typically or characteristically trying to do through daily behaviours. Unlike traits or short-term goals, strivings offer a more stable and personally meaningful map of motivation, one that reflects a young athlete’s sense of identity, values, and perceived purpose in sport.

This is especially vital in high-performance youth sport, where the pressure to succeed can eclipse enjoyment, identity, and self-driven goals. My previous research found that when we fail to understand what players are striving for, we risk missing the signs of burnout, disengagement, and dropout, particularly in players aged 17 to 20. This is the critical 'investment phase' in the Developmental Model of Sport Participation (Côté, 2009), where deliberate practice increases and enjoyment is often sacrificed.

Are we listening to what young athletes want, or only telling them what they should want?

Identity as the Bedrock of Motivation

From a developmental perspective, adolescence and early adulthood are crucial periods for identity formation. Erikson’s psychosocial theory highlights identity versus role confusion as a key developmental challenge during this phase. For young athletes, the sporting context often becomes the primary stage for this identity work.

The research proposal underpinning this post emphasises that personal strivings do not merely reflect what athletes want to achieve, but also who they are trying to become. Whether an athlete strives to be a resilient teammate, an emerging leader, or a technically skilled player, these strivings are deeply entwined with self-concept and future identity. When these identities are supported, athletes are more likely to experience coherence and direction; when they are stifled or overridden by external demands, identity confusion and psychological distress may result.

Furthermore, many players in elite pathways report feeling pressure to conform to a fixed athletic identity, often at the expense of other roles and interests. This identity foreclosure, where other potential selves are prematurely cut off, can lead to vulnerability when setbacks occur or when transitioning out of sport. Understanding and supporting multidimensional identities becomes essential not just for well-being, but also for sustainable performance.

Are we coaching the athlete, or are we shaping a role that leaves no room for the full person to emerge?

Rugby Identity in Crisis: A Microcosm of the Bigger Issue

The recent headlines around the Wallabies' performance and Australia’s dwindling Super Rugby crowd numbers tell more than a tale of tactics or selection errors. They speak to a broader identity crisis in Australian rugby. Who are we as a rugby nation? What values and strivings do we promote at grassroots and elite levels?

When young players can't connect their personal motivations to the identity of the sport they play, disengagement is inevitable. In this context, research has highlighted that players in academy systems often experience a tension between intrinsic motivations (growth, mastery, connection) and extrinsic pressures (selection, scholarships, performance outcomes).

What happens when the story rugby tells no longer matches the stories players are trying to write for themselves?

Coaching Environments: Catalysts or Constraints?

Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) and Achievement Goal Theory (Nicholls, 1984) offer powerful lenses to interpret player motivation. Both emphasise the importance of psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—in sustaining long-term engagement.

Previous research shows that environments which support these needs foster more adaptive personal strivings. For example, athletes with autonomy-supportive coaches are more likely to report approach-oriented strivings (e.g., "to grow as a leader") than avoidance-oriented strivings (e.g., "to not let my coach down"). These strivings are directly linked to well-being, intrinsic motivation, and sustainable performance (Emmons, 1999).

Yet too often, young athletes operate in rigid, top-down environments where performance metrics dominate over personal meaning. This not only suppresses intrinsic motivation, but also inhibits identity development....a crucial need for late adolescents.

Are our coaching systems designed to develop people, or only to produce players?

Burnout, Dropout, and the Cost of Misaligned Motivation

Burnout isn’t just a symptom of overtraining. It often reflects a deeper misalignment between what athletes are striving for and what the system demands. Research by Gustafsson et al. (2007) and Cresswell & Eklund (2006) suggests that the combination of high pressure and low personal meaning leads to emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and withdrawal from sport.

I've previously discussed how youth players who reported greater tension between their personal strivings and the expectations of their environment are more vulnerable to devaluation of the sport and identity foreclosure. In contrast, those who could articulate strivings linked to personal growth, social connection, and autonomy were more likely to maintain engagement and enjoyment.

What are the silent costs of ignoring players' inner motivations in the pursuit of outer success?

Building Athlete-Centred Systems: Practical Takeaways

To reimagine youth high-performance systems in sport like rugby union, we need to adopt a more athlete-centred philosophy grounded in the understanding of personal strivings. Here are four practical takeaways:

Ask Better Questions – Move beyond "What are your goals?" to "What are you typically trying to achieve in this environment, and why does it matter to you?"
Redesign Coaching Environments – Encourage autonomy-supportive practices, including voice, choice, and collaborative goal setting.
Track Motivation, Not Just Metrics – Incorporate regular check-ins that explore motivational themes (e.g., growth, connection, contribution) alongside performance KPIs.
Champion Identity Exploration – Create space for athletes to explore who they are beyond their sporting role. This reduces the risk of identity foreclosure and builds resilience.

What would it look like if our systems were designed to help athletes become rather than simply perform?

Final Thoughts: Sport as a Site of Becoming

Youth sport, at its best, is not merely a proving ground for future professionals but a space where young people come to know themselves. If we truly want to address the challenges of burnout, dropout, and performance inconsistency, we must stop asking only "How can we win?" and start asking "Who are these young men becoming?"

Understanding personal strivings gives us a window into the hearts and minds of athletes during their most formative years. It's not a soft science; it's the very foundation of performance, engagement, and human development.

What are your players striving for? And are we giving them the environment to find it?

Coaches Blog

Beyond the Scoreboard: Reclaiming Identity, Motivation, and Meaning in Youth Sport