Athletic identity and its Relationship with Sport Achievement Motivation Amongst Volleyball Players in The West Bank -Palestine

The purpose of this study was to identify the level of athletic identity and its relationship with sport achievement motivation for the volleyball players in the West Bank, and determine the differences in athletic identity and sport achievement motivation according to the club division, education level, playing experience, and the main task (position) in the team variables amongst volleyball players in the West Bank. A sample of (192) players from the clubs union of the volleyball in the West Bank for the year 2012-2013 has been taken, this sample has been selected according to descriptive procedure using a survey instrument and Brewer & Cornelius’s measure (Brewer & Cornelius, 2001) and Allawi’s sport achievement motivation measure (1998), after collecting the data we used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software to analyze the results of the study: • The level of the athletic identity for the volleyball players in the West bank was very high and the percentage of response reached (81.14%) • The level of sport achievement motivation toward achieving success among the volleyball players in the West Bank was medium where the percentage of response reached (68.20%), and the level of sport achievement motivation toward avoiding failure was medium where the percentage of response reached (68.80%). • There was a strong positive relationship between the athletic identity and achieving success among the volleyball players in the West Bank, where The value of Pearson's correlation coefficient reached (0.62), while the relationship between the athletic identity and avoiding failure was negative, and the value of Pearson's correlation coefficient reached (-0.48). • There were no significant differences at (a=0.05) in the level of athletic identity for the volleyball players in the West Bank due to the variables (education level and the main position in the team), but there were a significant differences due to the variables (the club rank or division and the experience of playing). • There were no significant differences at (a=0.05) in the level of achievement motivation toward achieving success among the volleyball players in the West Bank due to education level or playing experience or the main position in the team, but there were a significant differences due to the club division. Based on the findings of the study , the researcher recommended several recommendations, and the most important recommendation was to enhance and develop the psychological characteristics of the volleyball players in the West Bank, especially the athletic identity and the sport achievement motivation for their positive and effective role in athletic entrepreneurship and stick to the ambition of achieving the best results on the local, regional, international and the Olympic levels. Key Words: Athletic Identity, sport achievement motivation, Volleyball, West Bank-Palestine.