Motivation and Burnout in Professional Pasifiki Rugby players.

Abstract

Rugby players from Pasifiki backgrounds are fast becoming a very powerful group globally. This thesis examines why Pasifiki players are playing rugby or, in more scientific parlance, what was/is the participation motivation of professional Pasifiki rugby players. While there is considerable research in sport psychology on motivation, and some on motivation of professional athletes, there appears to be little or no research on participation motivation of professional Pasifiki rugby players. Rugby participation research has been dominated by Western theories and models. There is little or no research that has incorporated a theory or model that encompasses those values that are significant to Pasifiki Peoples. The lack of research in this area suggests that there is little scientific knowledge, at least, about this phenomena, and that research is needed to identify what specific cultural factors exist that motivate so many Pasifiki peoples to play rugby. Drawing on the implications of this doctoral research so far and its implications for rugby, this research intends to outline this mismatch between the lived realities of a Pasifiki rugby player and with the lived realities of non-Pasifiki rugby players playing semi-professional and professional rugby, in essence whether Pasifiki athletes' experiences of motivation and burnout are similar to non-Pasifiki athletes' (that is Pālangi) experiences.