The effects of winning or losing and the impact of being "cut" from an athletic team on the self-concept of a volunteer group of adolescent boys was examined. State anxiety levels both before and after competitive events and "try-outs" were studied by means of a short form of Spielberger's children's trait anxiety inventory questionnaire. Results indicate a difference in self-concept, team performance rating, and task difficulty perception between "winners" and "losers." Those boys who made the team assigned themselves higher personal effort and lower luck attributes than those boys who were cut. However, the contribution of self and team ability to the outcome of a contest did not vary between winning and losing teams. In both cases, losses were attributed to causes external of the team. This finding is contrary to the bulk of previous research in the field. (LH)