burNout E EnFrEntAmEnto Em JogADorEs DE FutEbol: FAsEs PrÉ E DurAntE ComPEtição BURNOUT AND COPING AMONG FOOTBALL PLAYERS: BEFORE AND DURING THE TOURNAMENT BURNOUT Y ENFRENTAMIENTO EN JUGADORES DE FÚTBOL: FASES PRE Y DURANTE COMPETENCIA

Introduction: In sports, the lack of adequate coping strategies and the Burnout syndrome may limit athletes’ development and performance. Objective: To assess Burnout and coping strategies among professional and youth team football players during pre-competition and competition phases. Methods: In a prospective study, 73 male football players were evaluated in the State of Sao Paulo, being 32 professionals (mean age = 22+4.14 years) and 41 amateurs (mean age = 17+0.94 years), all members of three teams participating in the Championship of Sao Paulo, Series A-1 and A-2 (professional category), and in the Sao Paulo Junior Soccer Cup (amateurs). To assess the variables Burnout and coping strategies, the following instruments were used: Ways of coping problem scale (EMEP) and Burnout questionnaire for athletes (QBA). Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis, with a significance level of 0.05. Results: Statistically significant differences were found between the categories in the pre-competition (p=0.026), but no differences were found during the competi tion phase (p=0.468). This suggests that professional and amateur football players use different coping strategies, which in most cases, for both categories, were focused on the problem. Conclusion: During the competition athletes with higher Burnout scores regarding Reduced Sense of Sporting Achievement are associated with the mode of coping focused on religious and wishful thoughts.