SUMMARY OF THE SITUATION (FACING THE GIANTS - 2006)

For six years since the tutelage of Grant Taylor, the Shiloh Eagles football team tallied losing
records every season. The situation only worsened when the team’s top scorer transferred to one of their
rival schools.

David Childers, the focus of this analysis, played soccer in his previous school. Since the Shiloh
Christian Academy did not have a soccer team, his father encouraged him to try joining the football team
as a kicker instead. David was not fond of the idea because of his insecurity regarding his short stature and
his inexperience in football. Despite this, but not without further encouragement from his father, he still tried
out for the team. His performance did not turn out to be good as he failed to kick the ball properly. The
coach, however, saw potential in him and allowed him to join the team as a backup kicker.

Shiloh Eagles lost their next game against Dewey County, a team which the Eagles have never
lost against for more than ten years. David expressed to his father his doubts regarding his usefulness to
the team. David’s father, being bound to a wheelchair, used himself as an example and told David not to
give in to his fears—the same way he continues to live fearlessly despite being bound to a wheelchair. The
next game ended again with another loss as David missed the shot to make a field goal. Disheartened with
the results, his father continued to encourage and support him.

Left with little hope, the coach internalized and drew up a new philosophy for his football team. He
huddled the team and tried to motivate them.

"Winning football games is too small a thing to live for. I love football as much as anybody
but even championship trophies collect dust and will soon be forgotten. So far, it's all been
about us: how we can look good, how we can get the glory. Life's not about just us... I'm
asking you, what are you living for?...You can't win games if you're more concerned about
what's going on after.”

The team, however, was not entirely convinced with what the coach said. He then made his point
through pushing his best player, Brock, to the limit. While carrying a person on his back and while wearing
a blindfold, Brock was instructed by the coach to do the death crawl as he gave his very best. Brock
managed to reach the end zone.

The experience lifted the team’s spirit. During their next practice, David was finally able to kick the
ball right. Renewed confidence and motivation led the team to start winning games consistently—so much
so that they were even able to participate in the state finals against the Richland Giants. Ultimately, the
Shiloh Eagles football team was able to bag the state championship.

RESEARCH QUESTION

 What factors affected David Childers’ performance?

FRAMEWORKS FOR ANALYSIS

1. Factors that Affect Perception

 For this film analysis, the perceiver in the framework is David Childers, with the target being the
Shiloh Eagles football team, and analyzed under three different situations: (1) during the tryouts, (2) after
losing a game, and (3) after the change in philosophy brought forth by the coach.
 David, the perceiver, can be seen as having an inferiority complex. This is most evident at the
beginning of the film. He oftentimes labelled himself as “weak” due to his small physique and his limited
knowledge and experience of football. Since the school does not offer a soccer program —his actual
interest, he tried out for their football team after being encouraged by his father.

During the tryouts (the first situation), his insecurities were validated upon seeing that the football
team members (the target) were bigger than him and the team’s designated kicker can kick a 51-yard field
goal while he struggled to cover even just 35-yards. He cannot even kick the ball in the right direction most
of the time. Nevertheless, he got in as the backup kicker, as the team needs another man in the rotation.
His overall perception however of the environment was that he did not have much to contribute to the team.

After losing a game (second situation), his perception of the team and what he could do for them
further worsened. He noticed how most of the football team members do not bother coordinating plays with
each other and were completely apathetic about winning the game. After missing a field goal kick during
one of their games, David felt like he did not even deserve to be accepted in the team. He was only adding
embarrassment for all of them.

However, after the shift in philosophy by the team’s coach (third situation), it was evident that the
team morale drastically elevated to the point of enabling them to go on a winning streak. Through it all,
David was continuously being motivated by his father. He also felt more valued as there was now personal
supervision on his training for properly kicking field goal attempts. All these led to an improved perception
of his worth to the team.

2. Goal-Setting Theory and Expectancy Theory

Goal-Setting Theory

The Goal-Setting Theory illustrates how setting specific goals, challenges, and feedback on
performance do to effective performance. This crux of the goal setting theory is exemplified in the movie.
David made it his goal to be a “good enough” kicker that would be a beneficial contributor to his team —
making his father proud in the process. The personal realizations during the coach’s speech and the death
crawl scene during the huddle strengthened David’s commitment and heightened his self-confidence in
achieving his goal. His upbringing of being headstrong and willful pushed him through his difficulties while
in the team. These describe the personal factors influencing the goal-performance relationship.

Additionally, this goal came with strong challenges. This included kicking a 51-yard field goal in the
state championship when all he has successfully achieved before was a 39-yard kick. With the persistent
coaching during practices and advices after games, David was able to constantly improve his kicks which
led him to his winning kick at the final game. Finally, parallel to what the theory is saying, David performed
effectively—he helped his team win the championship.

Expectancy Theory
 The theory states that the intensity of a tendency to perform in a particular manner is dependent
on the intensity of an expectation that the performance will be followed by a definite outcome and on the
appeal of the outcome to the individual.

David, in the beginning, was doubtful of his abilities as a qualified kicker for the football team.
Furthermore, the Eagles already has a designated kicker in the team. But with his father’s encouragement,
and in accordance with the goal setting theory, he made it his goal to be a good kicker to make his father
proud and to help the team. In order to achieve this goal, he knew he needed to exert a lot of effort to get
better during practices. Moreover, he has to perform at a high level during their games. A good performance
can lead to more chances and a better position in the team.

With David exerting his maximum effort during practices, his expectation that their coach would
recognize him and call him during games to kick for the team describes the effort-performance relationship.
The death crawl, which convinced the team that they have the ability to perform at a high level, created a
huge impact on how David saw the performance-reward relationship. His coach also helped in shaping
David’s goal through the team’s new working philosophy. It changed his outlook regarding playing football.
Winning games—the reward of high performance—became more meaningful and attractive for David
because it increases his self-confidence and makes his father proud. This describes the rewards-personal
goal relationship.

In actuality, David put a lot of effort in improving his kicks during practices. As a result, he was
recognized by his coach and teammates after their win. Evidently, he also made his father proud. Although
his kicks didn’t always go in, his performance in the state finals was crucial for the team’s success. In the
end, he achieved his personal goal of becoming an invaluable kicker for the Shiloh Eagles football team,
consequently making his father proud.

CONCLUSION
3. Joint Effects of Goals and Self-Efficacy on Performance

The self-efficacy theory refers to an individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a
task. This is further studied by the framework shown below.
The framework can be clearly seen in the state championship game against the Giants. Coach Taylor set
a difficult and specific goal for David: to kick a 51-yard field goal in the clutch moments of a game.
Manifested in here, is the pygmalion effect—a way to induce self-efficacy in others. Coach Taylor believed
and expected that David would be able to successfully make the field goal, despite David not being able to
achieve a kick as difficult as such before.

Through this specific goal, and coupled with the continuing motivation his father was giving him,
David eventually had the resolve that he would actually be able to make the kick (self-efficacy). He set
making the field goal as a specific personal goal (self-set)—which is parallel with the earlier goal set under
goal setting theory: to be a good enough kicker for his team and to make his father proud.

Because of the aforementioned nuances, David achieved a higher level of performance as

exemplified by his capability and success in making the field goal in an extremely high pressure situation.

SYNTHESIS

Going back to the research question: What factors affected David Childers’ performance?

The first one is David’s perception of his situation and environment. David’s performance was low
when he felt like his worth to the team was correspondingly low (e.g., when he was missing practice kicks
wide left and wide right). On the other hand, his level of performance was high when he felt like there was
something he could contribute to the team.

Other factors which affected David’s performance was his goals and expectations. David setting
a specific goal of becoming a good kicker for the team—and his expectations of what he needed to do to
achieve that—made him exert a lot of effort which, in turn, increased his level of performance.

Lastly, his self-efficacy, or his confidence in himself, also contributed to his performance. It is likely
that if he did not have a high level of self-efficacy he would have just given up or performed badly.

LEARNINGS

There is already a plethora of motivational movies produced, making it challenging for us to choose
one that best represents the frameworks of perception and motivation. It was insightful for us because we
managed to witness the movie from a deeper perspective, rather than just viewing it for entertainment.
Being able to analyze the characters also helped us appreciate the movie and the frameworks more.

It was particularly challenging for us to avoid using the movie to explain the frameworks instead of
using the frameworks to explain the movie. We had to constantly remind ourselves of its importance.
Additionally, we realized the importance of asking for feedback and guidance. Our initial conceptualization
of the report turned out to be different from what is actually being asked of us. Upon receiving feedback,
we had to completely look at the movie in a different perspective in order to get back on track.

We also realized how hard it is to compress a lot of information into only 5 pages of a written report
and 10 minutes worth of movie clips. It was difficult to pinpoint which pieces of information would actually
contribute to the value of the discussion. We recognized how important (and how difficult) it is to keep the
attention of the audience while maintaining the quality of the report.