ASSESSING THE PREVALENCE, TYPE AND CAUSE OF SPORT AGGRESSION AMONG THE MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF ETHIOPIAN PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS FOUND IN HAWASSA CITY AND WOLAITA SODDO TOWN

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence, type and causes of sport aggression<br> among the male football players of Ethiopian premier league clubs found in Hawassa city and<br> Wolaita Sodo town. To meet the objectives of the study, a total of 79 players (33 from HK, 18<br> from SB and 28 from WD) were participated for the data collection. The instrument used for<br> data collection was self-administered general and standard questionnaires. Data collected were<br> analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean and standard<br> deviation. Inferential statistics, independent samples t-test and one way ANOVA, were also<br> employed for data analysis. In all study clubs, majority of the players, HK, SB and WD, 23<br> (71.9%), 14 (77.8%) and 25 (89.3%), respectively noticed sport aggression in their teams toward<br> the opponents. Regarding the prevalence of sport aggression, majority of the respondents in<br> each clubs, HK 13 (39.4%), SB 9 (56.2%) and WD 17 (63%), reported occasional prevalence of<br> sport aggression. The majority of the players, HK, SB and WD 20 (83.3%), 11 (78.6%) and 22<br> (88%), respectively, reported the most noticed sport aggression was instrumental aggression.<br> The findings of the study showed that there was no statistically significant difference among the<br> study clubs on sport aggression (χ2= 2.627; P=0.269), aggression prevalence (χ2= 13.050;<br> P=0.221) and types of aggression (χ2= 3.265; P=0.459). In HK 21 (63.6%) and WD 16 (57.1%)<br> of the players reported sport aggression was harmful, In SB, sport aggression was perceived as<br> harmful by 8 (44.4%) of the players and similarly perceived useful sometimes by 8 (44.4%) of the<br> players. There was statistically significant difference on the perception of players among the<br> study clubs on the importance of sport aggression (χ2=13.552; P=0.035).There was no<br> statistically significant difference on the perception of the players among the study clubs<br> regarding to sport aggression effect on athletes performance (χ2= 4.641; P=0.591) and sport<br> aggression effect on team performances (χ2= 9.088; P=0.169). The finding of this study showed<br> that physical contact, point difference, pans noise and opponents attack were the causes of sport<br> aggression in the study clubs. One way ANOVA showed were no significant differences in the<br> levels of aggressive behavior in each study clubs, HK (F (3,128) =2.42, p&gt;0.05), SB (F (3, 68)<br> =0.989, p&gt;0.05), and WD (F (3, 107) =0.489, p&gt;0.05). Independent samples t-test value showed<br> that there was significant difference between instrumental and hostile aggression in SB (MD=<br> 0.30589; P=0.029) and WD (MD= 0.24520; P=0.035). However, there was no significant<br> difference between instrumental and hostile aggression level in HK (MD= 0.11121; P=0.347).<br> One way ANOVA showed that there was no significant differences in the levels of sport<br> aggression types among the study clubs, that is, instrumental aggression among the study clubs<br> (F (2,72) =0.115, p&gt;0.05) and hostile aggression among the study clubs (F (2, 72) =1.765,<br> p&gt;0.05). Generally it can be concluded that, the football players of the study clubs well aware<br> the presence of sport aggression with occasional prevalence. The finding revealed instrumental<br> aggression as a major type of sport aggression in each study club compared with hostile<br> aggression. Majority of the players in the study clubs perceived sport aggression negatively<br> affect the athlete’s performance. Based on the findings of current study, the coaches and club<br> managements should give the players training on the negative impacts of aggressive behaviors<br> on football and help the athletes control their aggressive behaviors.