Análise do nível de ansiedade pré-competitiva durante a preparação e a competição da Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior de atletas de base categoria sub-20 de uma associação esportiva piauiense

Abstract

Soccer is a team sport with high levels of tactical, technical, physical, and psychological demands and capabilities. This study investigated the psychological capabilities related to competitive anxiety in young athletes. This research sought to analyze the levels of pre-competitive anxiety in under-20 youth athletes from a Piauí sports association during the preparation phase and during the São Paulo Junior Soccer Cup. The research addresses the importance of emotional control among athletes in the youth categories. Data were collected through sociodemographic questionnaires and used the Brazilian version of the CSAI-2R instrument to measure the players' levels of somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety, and self-confidence. This quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in the friendly training environment that the team held during the preparation phase and during the São Paulo Junior Soccer Cup. Nineteen single male athletes with an average age of 18.3 ± 0.9 years participated in the study. The results showed that 78.9% of the athletes had been playing the sport for more than five years; 68.4% played in midfield and attack; approximately 80% of these athletes lived with their parents; and 63.2% had already completed high school, with some starting college. Regarding pre-competitive anxiety, the overall average for cognitive and somatic anxiety was 1.29 ± 0.27 and 1.46 ± 0.39 points, respectively. Self-confidence averaged 3.75 ± 0.28 points across all monitored games. It was concluded that the athletes presented low cognitive and somatic anxiety scores and high self-confidence scores. Furthermore, it was observed that there was no significant difference between the anxiety and self-confidence domains depending on the athletes' competitive phase (preparatory vs. competition phase).