AWOKE CHIBUEZE AWOKE

This work is aimed at investigating the psychological variables affecting the performance of student athletes in sport in the university of Benin. Eight research questions were raised for the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of study consisted of 633 student athletes of the University of Benin. The data was collected using simple random sampling technique and a sample size of 127 student athletes from University of Benin. The research instrument used for the study was a self-structured questionnaire. The validity of the instrument was subjected to scrutiny and the test-retest reliability 087 indicating that the instrument was reliable. The data was analyzed using frequency and standard deviation for the analysis of the research questions The results revealed that psychology plays a crucial role in student athletes sporting performance and coping strategies such as positive self-talk confidence, mental vigor and relaxation are known to boost performances.
In conclusion student athletes are attempting to get better in sports performance but the lack of full knowledge on sport psychology and the failure to practice the known coping strategies leads to a decline in their sports performance, they should also train together and work along with their coaches by having a close relationship with them and share experiences with them, all these improve the their mindset and help to improve their performances. Recommendations are made that student athletes should expose themselves to expected stimuli during training in order to enhance their performance and be able to peak in competitions and keeping close to their coaches which help the coach to know when the student athletes are psychologically imbalance.