04 Aug Playing sports is something most of us experienced as we were growing up

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Playing sports is something most of us experienced as we were growing up. Personally, I played tennis and flag football. I was not very good at either sport, but I did have a lot of fun! While playing sports, I can quickly realize which kids were taking it more seriously than others. This is where our motivation comes to play. Some children have extrinsic motivation and others have intrinsic motivation. According to Kendra Cherry, the author of the article called Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation: What’s the Difference?, motivation is what drives us to our behaviors. Extrinsic motivation is when someone performs an activity to earn a reward or avoid punishment. An example of this would be a high school student who plays well in football and can receive a scholarship for college. They have much more pressure to continue to do well and continue to do better. Not everyone can get a scholarship, so it is much more competitive. Intrinsic motivation is to perform an activity for its own sake and personal rewards. An example of this is a child who likes to play soccer on the weekends to have fun or create friendships. They generally like to play the sport because it makes them feel happy and excited. In my own life, I have experience intrinsic motivation by playing flag football and Tennis. I just wanted to play to have something to do and create new friendships. I wanted to join a team where it was less competitive but more about having fun. I have never experienced extrinsic motivation in sports however, I did have a team mate on my Tennis team who needed to play because their parents made her. Even though she was not having fun in the sport anymore, she felt like her parents paid a lot of money over the years for her to just quit.