The aim of this research is to examine the level of organizational policy perceptions of athletes who continue their sports life as licensed. 231 male and 94 female athletes participated in the research. Quantitative and survey method were used in the study. In the research, Perception of Organizational Policy in Team Sports scale was used. After the data collection process was completed, the data were transferred to SPSS 20th program. Kolmogorov Smirnov Test was used for the normality distribution of the data. Descriptive statistics (frequency, arithmetic mean, standard deviation), Kruskal-Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests and Pearson correlation coefficient were calculated in the analysis and interpretation of the data. Gender, age and license years were found to be significant differences as a result of the analyzes. In addition, in the correlation analysis, it was found that there was a positive relationship between the organizational policy perceptions of age and license year.

Organizations are a political entity because of the rules they have and the human community that exists within them (Mintzberg, 1985; Gandz and Murray 1980; Pffefer, 1992). In fact, this does not depend on organizational reasons, but politics can be talked about in every place and time where man lives. This idea was put forward in written texts by Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) twenty-four centuries ago in his book "politics" and discussed in detail. Aristotle, who conveyed this idea with the view that "Man is a political animal (Zoon Politikon)", can be explained as a political concept not only of man, but of all living things (bees, crane birds, ants, etc.) that live in flocks and are observed to gather within the framework of a certain purpose. In parallel with this view, Charles Darwin stated in his "The Origin of Species" published in 1859;  The view that "all living organisms are grouped together and struggle with other groups for resources that will enable them to survive" shows us that groups and intergroup debate are as common in the universe as life is.  Another work on human political movements after Aristotle that has been dealt with after modern times is The Prince (1513), written by the French philosopher Niccolo machiavelli. In his work, Machiavelli discussed political behavior and expressions of power comprehensively, and in a way that contributes to a more comfortable understanding of these expressions today.

The perception that often occurs when the expression "politics" or the synonym "politics" in our language is mentioned; The efforts of the country and political parties to enter into a struggle for power and position in order to have a say in the administration can be expressed as the policies they implement to govern the country with their movements and existing policies. But politics is not a concept unique to the state and political parties. On the other hand, in most places where there are groups of people and wherever there is hierarchy and needs where power is at the forefront, where there is a hierarchy and political mobility can be mentioned (Kaufman, 1964; Gandz and Murray, 1980; Kacmar and Carlson, 1997). Accordingly, it is an attempt to influence those who have significant power in their hands and who have power.  The places where this initiative is seen can be a family (struggle for authority between parents or attempts to persuade children's parents to buy a product, etc.), a company, a school, a sports club or a sports team.

As stated earlier, organizational politics can exist in any place and time when people struggle for organizational structuring (Mayes and Allen's 1977, Gandz and Murray, 1980; Pfeffer, 1992; Mintzberg, 1985). Of course, even professional sports teams, from each country's unique sports, can be seen as a result of their political mobility and the reflections of organizational policy events as a result of sports media. However, the lack of conceptual studies to guide the studies on more than one concept and theory of organizational behavior in the sports teams format and the fact that the measurement tool to measure the reflections in team sports has not yet been specified can be seen as a deficiency. However, whether it is a sports environment or personal experiences, biographies, films, series that deal with the career history of successful team players and coaches, social situations that are echoed in the media from within sports teams, situations that are not recorded in sports teams reveal that the concept of organizational behavior is very broad and valuable. Similar data sources, especially political behavior and social factors, can be said to have a significant impact on the success of teams and the decisions to be made from teams. In addition, the first studies on organizational policy began with the effect of experiences, intuitions and narrated information gained during the time spent in organizations (Gandz and Murray, 1980; Madison, Allen, Patricia and Renwick, 1980; Ferris and Kacmar, 1992). In addition, there is a lot of significant evidence in the hands of sports scientists regarding his political behavior in sports teams. In fact, someone who has been an athlete or coach on any sports team knows what organizational politics is. As a matter of fact, scientists who continue their studies on human beings or on concepts have stated that organizational policy is specific to organizational life and is very effective (Kaufman, 1964; Kumar and Ghadially, 1989; Cropanzano, Kacmar and Bozeman, 1995:6; Kacmar and Carlson, 1997). In parallel, most researchers have emphasizing that political behavior exists in all organizations (Mayes and Allen, 1977, Hochwarter et al., 2020). As can be understood from these explanations, it is thought that our study will guide the multidimensional and complex social relations of sports teams and will contribute to the better understanding, recognition and better management of the team owned or managed by athletes, coaches and managers with certain criteria in the team. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to indicate the organizational policy perception levels of athletes with different sports branches.

In the study, relational screening pattern from quantitative models was used. Relational survey patterns are research models that aim to determine the presence and/or degree of co-change between two or more variables (Karasar, 2009). 

Research Group

The sample of the study consists of 311 people who continue their sports life as licensed. The sample of the study was based on a voluntary basis and 311 athletes participated in the online survey study, which was sent by e-mail to the players in different branches who were actively engaged in sports.

Data Collection Tools

Since it is economically advantageous, has high applicability, and gives the opportunity to receive information from large masses in a short time, the continuation of the study is based on the preference of the survey data collection tool in the basic source studies. The questionnaire we used in the study was created in two stages. Personal information form and Perception of Organizational Policy in Team Sports scale developed by Parasız (2021) were used.

Analysis of Data

Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) was applied to test the structural validity of the organizational policy scale and to reveal the active structure. For this, the main components and direct oblique rotation (direct oblimin) methods were used. The reason for this is that the basic components method is the most frequently and easily used method in practice, and the direct oblique rotation method is used when it is considered that there is a relationship between factors (Büyüköztürk, 2011).

The sample adequacy value of the organizational policy scale was 0.88 and the sample size was sufficient for EFA. When the resulting value is above 0.50, it is considered sufficient and 0.80-0.90 is classified in the category of "wonderful" (Field, 2009). In addition, the Barlett Test found X2 (435)=10344.852 and p<;0.05, indicating that the correlations between the substances were large enough for EFA. In order to test the security of the organizational policy scale, Cronbach's Alpha reliability analysis was performed and the scale was found to be α=.92. Cronbach's Alpha value of 0.70 and above is considered sufficient for the reliability of a measurement tool (Büyüköztürk, 2011:171).

The findings regarding the demographic variables of athletes participating in organizational policy are shown below. 

Table 1: Descriptive statistics of participants

When Table 1 was examined, a total of 311 participants, 231 men and 94 women, participated. It is seen that the age range of the participants is more in the 15-19 age range and covers 36.9%. It was obtained as a result of the descriptive statistics that the number of participants playing football was 94 and that there were the highest number of participants according to the branch, and that the highest number of participants in the license year was 10 or more years.

Tablo 2: Mann-Whitney U Test according to organizational policy gender variable

Table 2 organizational policy sub-dimensions When the gender variable is examined, it is determined that there is a significant difference in GPB and CMB sub-dimensions (p<0>

Tablo 3: Organizational policy Kruskal-Wallis H Test by age variable

When the organizational policy sub-dimensions of the age variable were compared in Table 3, it was determined as a result of the analyzes that there was a significant difference in all sub-dimensions (p<0>

Tablo 4: Organizational policy Kruskal-Wallis H Test by branch variable

Table 4 When the sub-dimensions of organizational policy perception of branch variable were examined, no significant difference was detected in the TB and CMB sub-dimensions, while a significant difference was found in the GPB sub-dimension (p<0>

Table 5: Organizational policy Kruskal-Wallis H Test by license year variable

When Table 5 is examined, a significant difference emerged between all sub-dimensions when the organizational policy perception sub-dimensions and the license year variable were compared (p<0>

Table 6: Spearmen correlation of different variables

When Table 6 is examined, it is obtained as a result of the correlation analysis that the age and the license year are positive with GPB, TB and CMB, and the license year is positively related to GPB, CMB and TB.

In this section, the results we have reached in line with the findings we have obtained as a result of our research are included. Literature reviews related to the research topic are made and suggestions are offered to researchers interested in the subject. A total of 325 people, 231 men and 94 women, participated in the study. The majority of the research group, whose ages range from 15 to 30, are in the 15-19 age range. When the athletes participating in the research are examined on the basis of branches, 22.2% are handball, 24.6% are volleyball, 28.9% are football and 24.3% are basketball branches. In terms of license years, the rate of those who had a license between 1-3 years was 37.8%, the rate of those who had a license between 4-6 years was 12.3%, the rate of those who had a license between 7-9 years was 11.1%, and the rate of license years of athletes with 10 and over years was 38.8%. When the scores of the research group according to gender are examined; It was found that there was a difference between male and female athletes in the GPB sub-dimension and this difference was in favor of men. While there was no significant difference between men and women in the lower height of TB, it was seen that the averages were higher in men. In the sub-dimension of CMB, a significant difference was found between men and women and it was found that this difference was in favor of men. In the literature researches, it was seen that the majority of the studies that did not have a significant relationship between organizational policy perception and genders (Bıyık et al., 2016; Ford, 2002; Hochwarter and Rosen, 2020; Khuwaja et al., 2020; Valle, 1995). However, there have been studies where there are significant differences between the sexes. When these studies are examined, male individuals perceive the environment less politically but exhibit more political movements. (n=261, Indartono and Chen, 2011). Cho and Yang (2018) found in their study that women are more positively or negatively affected by the environment. According to their studies, there are findings indicating that gender perceives the environment in the organization and political behaviors are different When the sub-dimensions of the organizational policy perception of the branch variable of the research group were examined, no significant difference was detected in the TB and CMB sub-dimensions on the basis of branch, while there was a significant difference between the handball and volleyball branches in the GPB sub-dimension (p0.05). When the branch variable rank averages are taken into consideration, it is obtained as a result of the analyzes that the highest score is the "volleyball" branch. When the organizational policy perception sub-dimensions of the athletes participating in the study and the license year variable were compared, a significant difference emerged between the license year of the athletes and the sub-dimensions (p<0 r=,413, TB(r=,252, r=372, r=,487,p,000) r=,278, r=,431,>