Selected Aspects of the Pre- and Post-Match Rituals of Female Football Players

Katarzyna Rutkowska; Anna Rut

doi:10.35765/pk.2020.2801.11

Katarzyna Rutkowska Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9674-7103
Anna Rut Szymon Szymonowic Primary School No. 6, Zamość https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0226-300X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35765/pk.2020.2801.11

Keywords: rituals, sports, football, sports psychology, mental preparation

Abstract

Rituals are an interdisciplinary subject. They can carry many meanings and have different values for the person who performs them or believes in superstitions associated with them. Rituals are mysterious and intriguing, and thus more interesting as an area of scientific study. Observation of the sports community shows that ritualization applies not only to the ceremony itself, but also to the behavior and performance of individual players, especially during the pre-match period. This awareness prompted research and discussion on the place/role of rituals in the mental and physical preparation of athletes.

The study included 62 female football players playing in Polish league competitions. They completed a questionnaire called “Rituals in Sport.” The aim of the study was to learn about the ritualized practices of players and their teams. The survey questions also concerned the subjectively felt relationship between rituals and the expected outcome of the match, among other things. The analysis of our findings confirmed that the female footballers’ pre-and post-match practices are ritualized. The scope, diversity, and multiplicity of meanings of the rituals performed by individual players reveal the significance of this interdisciplinary phenomenon.

Author Biographies

Katarzyna Rutkowska, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin

Assistant Professor at the Department of Educational Psychology and Psychological Diagnosis of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, psychologist, educator, activities coordinator, and manager of culture, graduate of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. She holds a doctorate of the humanities in the field of psychology and has completed post-graduate studies in sports psychology (Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw), the “science promotion manager” university course (Higher School of Economics and Innovation in Lublin, Opportunities Industrialization Centers Poland), and a 4-year psychotherapy course run by the Department of Psychotherapy at the Jagiellonian University Medical College. Her theoretical and practical interests incorporate psychotherapy and sports psychology, as well as social and health psychology. She pursues and develops her scholarly interests by participating in scientific, educational, and preventative projects.

Anna Rut, Szymon Szymonowic Primary School No. 6, Zamość

Teacher and physical education teacher at Szymon Szymonowic Primary School No. 6 in Zamość, and coach of children’s teams at the DKS Gaudium Zamość football club. She completed her M.A. studies in physical education as well as tourism and recreation (specialization: personal trainer) at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport in Biała Podlaska (Warsaw University of Physical Education) and graduated from the “Education for Security” postgraduate studies at the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów. A football coach with a UEFA B license and a sports and recreation instructor of downhill skiing, corrective gymnastics, self-defense, bodybuilding, and nordic walking, her interests also include active tourism, backpacking, crossfit, obstacle courses, weight training, women’s soccer, and sports nutrition.

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