The purpose of this study was to establish the correlates of sports confidence among high school athletes. The study examined Vealey’s (1986) nine sources of sports confidence in relation to contextual factors of gender, age, playing experience and type of sport. A descriptive survey design was used, and data were collected using Vealey’s Sources of sports confidence questionnaire (SSCQ) from high school athletes (n=175). Results showed that coaches’ leadership was the highest source of sports confidence, followed by mastery and physical and mental preparation, while situational favourableness appeared to be the weakest source of confidence amongst the athletes. There were significant differences in physical self-presentation (t=-2.14, df = 173, p =0.034) in favour of male athletes. Athletes participating in individual sports had superior scores in mastery, while coaches’ leadership was the most important source of sports confidence for athletes in team sports. There were significant differences in coaches’ leadership (t=-3.118, df = 175, p = 0.002) and social support (t= -2.236, df = 175, p = 0.027) in favour of athletes in a team sport. Athletes who did not engage in their current sport while in a primary school rated coaches’ leadership highly, while mastery of the skill was scored highly by athletes who did participate in the sport while in primary school. It is concluded that coaches’ leadership skills, mastery of skill execution and physical or mental preparedness were the major sources of sports confidence. High schools should utilize coaches who can be emulated by the athletes.

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Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of countries represented in the TOP20 long-distance elite runners ranking during 1997–2020, taking into account the countries’ Human Development Index (HDI), and to verify if the Matthew effect can be observed regarding countries’ representativeness in the raking alongside the years. Methods The sample comprised 1852 professional runner athletes, ranked in the Senior World TOP20 half-marathon (403 female and 487 male) and marathon (480 female and 482 male) races, between the years 1997–2020. Information about the countries’ HDI was included, and categorized as “low HDI”, “medium HDI”, “high HDI”, and “very-high HDI”. Athletes were categorized according to their ranking positions (1st–3rd; 4th–10th; > 10th), and the number of athletes per country/year was summed and categorized as “total number of athletes 1997–2000”; “total number of athletes 2001–2010”; and “total number of athletes 2011–2020”. The Chi-square test and Spearman correlation were used to verify potential associations and relationships between variables. Results Most of the athletes were from countries with medium HDI, followed by low HDI and very-high HDI. Chi-square test results showed significant differences among females (χ2 = 15.52; P = 0.017) and males (χ2 = 9.03; P = 0.014), in half-marathon and marathon, respectively. No significant association was verified between HDI and the total number of athletes, but the association was found for the number of athletes alongside the years (1997–2000 to 2001–2010: r = 0.60; P < 0.001; 2001–2010 to –2011–2020: r = 0.29; P < 0.001). Conclusion Most of the athletes were from countries with medium HDI, followed by those with low HDI and very-high HDI. The Matthew effect was observed, but a generalization of the results should not be done.

Doping is a worldwide problem that harms athletes' health and undermines the spirit of sport. Studies have shown that male athletes are more prone to doping than female athletes. Athletes with mastery climate have been associated with anti-doping attitudes, while those with performance climate have pro-doping attitudes. However, it is unclear whether motivational climate is equally important to attitude towards doping for males and females. Data were collected from 323 runners in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya, using cross-sectional survey design. Runners self-reported their motivational climate using Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire and attitudes towards doping using Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale. Correlational analysis indicated significant inverse relationship between mastery climate and doping attitude (rho = -.242; p < .001) and significant positive correlation between performance climate and doping attitude, (rho = .362; p < .001). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed performance and mastery climate were significant predictors of attitudes towards doping (F (3, 319) = 28.24, p = .001), and gender did not moderate the relations between motivational climate and doping attitudes (β = -.028, p = .621). MANOVA results showed male athletes were significantly lower in performance climate scores (p = .045) and non-significantly low in mastery climate scores (p =.075) and doping attitude scores (p = .595) than females. In conclusion, performance climate was associated with doping attitudes in females- but not in males. Therefore, policy frameworks that buttresses the aspects of mastery climate as opposed to performance climate in females is likely to promote anti-doping attitudes.