Association between coach-athlete relationship and athlete engagement in Chinese team sports: The mediating effect of thriving.

BACKGROUND: Coach-athlete relationship (CAR), thriving and athlete engagement are important psychological variables that affect sports performance. On the basis of self-determination theory, this study constructs a mediation model to examine the influence of CAR on athlete engagement and the mediating effect of thriving between them. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involves a questionnaire survey with 287 Chinese active athletes (M = 19.63, SD = 2.53) aged 14-26 years (64.5% male, 35.5% female) from eight sports. CAR, thriving and athlete engagement were assessed using the CAR Questionnaire, the Thriving Scale, and the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS: CAR and its dimensions can significantly and positively predict athlete engagement, complementarity, commitment, and closeness, accounting for 35.1%, 34.6%, and 30.4% of the cumulative variance in dominance analysis, respectively. The direct and indirect paths show that CAR affects athlete engagement through the mediating effect of thriving. The mediating effect model has a good fit and indirect effects account for 56.9% of the total effects. CONCLUSION: The effect of CAR on athlete engagement reflects a practical application of interpersonal dynamics in competitive sports to a certain extent. The following suggestions can be used to improve athlete engagement. First, setting common goals, emphasizing mutual cooperation, and building trust and support, promote coaches and athletes to have a higher sense of commitment and complementarity to each other, thereby helping improve athlete engagement. Second, meeting the vitality and progress needs of athletes effectively mobilizes CAR resources to promote athlete engagement, which can be manipulated by cultivating closeness, commitment, and complementarity. Third, to ensure the athletes' sports state and mental health, the sports team should focus on the cultivation of athletes' capacities to thrive and internally form a dynamic and positive sports atmosphere in their team. In the future, we can track and compare the influence of the improvement of CAR on thriving and athlete engagement can be tracked and compared from the dual perspectives of coaches and athletes.

Relationships among Sports Group Cohesion, Passion, and Mental Toughness in Chinese Team Sports Athletes.

BACKGROUND: Passion is an important motivational variable that profoundly affects athletes' cognition, emotion, and behavior. This study constructed a mediating model to explore the mechanism of cohesion toward passion and mental toughness of Chinese team sports athletes and to investigate the mediating effect of harmonious passion and obsessive passion on cohesion and mental toughness. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 326 Chinese active athletes (M = 19.63, SD = 6.51) aged 14-26 years (54% male, 46% female) from eight sports. RESULTS: Cohesion and its dimensions can positively predict athletes' mental toughness, and ATG-T is more important in advantage analysis. The direct and indirect paths show that cohesion affects mental toughness through the mediating effect of harmonious passion and obsessive passion. Mediating effect model has a good fit and explained 22.1% of the variance in mental toughness. CONCLUSION: The relationship between cohesion, passion, and mental toughness reflects the psychological dynamic process from environment to motivation to sports performance. The development of team sports athletes' mental toughness can be carried out from the following points. First, the team should define a sports goal and take the needs of members into account in goal-setting. Second, the sports team should build a team culture that is enterprising, inclusive, and cooperative and emphasizes members' recognition of them. Third, the team should attach importance to the passion of the members and make good use of the team atmosphere. To protect the psychological health and long-term development of athletes, team culture should pay more attention to the cultivation of athletes' harmonious passion. Improving cohesion is beneficial to athletes' mental toughness in team sports. To protect the psychological health and long-term development of athletes, team culture should pay more attention to the cultivation of athletes' harmonious passion.

From centralization to cooperation: The development and reform process of sports venues in China from 1949 to 2022.

The management of sports venues has undergone a series of reforms since the People's Republic of China's establishment in 1949. The reform of management right is especially significant. It reflects the government-enterprise relationship and logic of government action. Utilizing the perspective of the government-enterprise relationship, this study systematically reviews the reform model for sports venues to incorporate Chinese characteristics. The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between the People's Republic of China's government and the market through the reforms implemented for the operation and management of sports venues. According to the study, the development and reform of sports venues in China has experienced government centralization, devolution, decentralization, and cooperation. The reform of sports venues' operation and management follows a "market-oriented government-led" model which reflects the government's logic. It is concluded that a "market-oriented government-led" model is essential for the promotion of comprehensive reforms for sports venues with Chinese characteristics.