Positive Youth Development Through Sports-Part 1

Abbreviations
PPCT-Person-Process-Context-Time
DMSP-Developmental Model Of Sports Participation

After examining the impact of the physical environment on youth, the National Research Council Institute of Medicine (NRCIM 2002, 2004) suggested eight main features that should be present in the context of community programs in order to facilitate positive youth development. These features are gaining increasing support from youth sport research (e.g. Fraser-Thomas et al. 2005) as they offer additional understanding of the context in which youth sport should be promoted.

1.Physical And Psychological Safety
Physical and psychological safety in youth sport settings refers to the existence of safe and healthy facilities and practices that encourage secure and respectful peer interactions. Research indicates that the athlete–peer microsystem has an impact on the child’s sense of physical self-worth (Vazou et al. 2006) and on the adolescent’s perceived competence and self-evaluations (Horn 2004). Therefore, it is important that peer interactions are respectful in sport in order to build confidence in youth and allow them to enjoy their participation in sport.

2.Appropriate Structure
This feature suggests the existence of clear and consistent expectations regarding rules and boundaries. The DMSP provides some guidelines for the structure of youth sport programs (e.g. a shift in focus from deliberate play during childhood to deliberate practice during adolescence). Thus one could contend that providing activities that are properly structured has the potential to develop positive, well adjusted and optimistic youth.

3.Supportive Relationships
The third setting feature relates to strong support, positive communication, and connectedness. A coach can influence a child’s perceived competence, enjoyment, and motivation (Black and Weiss 1992) and play a role in a child’s psychological, social, and physical growth (Conroy and Coatsworth 2006; Cote and Fraser-Thomas 2007). Training coaches about basic principles of positive youth development is likely to result into better youth sport programs and sporting environments that promote supportive relationships (Conroy and Coatsworth 2006; Smoll and Smith 1996).

4.Opportunities To Belong
The fourth setting feature highlights the importance of meaningful inclusion, social engagement, and cultural competence in youth sport programs. Feeling a sense of belonging (i.e. being part of a team, developing friendships) is important in maintaining a child’s motivation and interest in sport (Allen 2003). Healthy relationships can be encouraged by coaches who build a sense of team unity and cohesion.

5. Positive Social Norms
This feature relates to the development of values and morals rather than antisocial and reckless behaviors. Although a growing body of literature highlights some of the potential negative social norms associated with youth sport participation(e.g. violence, aggression, poor sportspersonship, and low morality reasoning:
Bredemeier 1995; Lemyre et al. 2002), youth sport programs have the potential to develop positive values such as fair play, sportspersonship, cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control (Cote 2002).

6.Support Of Efficacy And Mattering
The sixth setting feature focuses on the importance of empowering youth and supporting their autonomy as they work to build their community. Research in
sport emphasizes the need for coaches to develop autonomous athletes; giving youth the opportunity to choose their level of involvement in sport or contribution within a sport will empower them and also increase their intrinsic motivation for
sport (Mallett 2005; Vallerand and Rousseau 2001).

7.Opportunities For Skill Building
The seventh setting feature emphasizes the importance of learning experiences.
As previously outlined, sampling a variety of different sports through early diversification provides this opportunity, as youth have the chance to learn a variety of sport skills and are able to meet and interact with a variety of different people (i.e. peers, coaches). Furthermore, deliberate play and deliberate practice activities afford children and adolescents the opportunity to grow and develop their motor skills in appropriate settings.

8.Integration Of Family, School, and Community Efforts
This feature promotes the melding of the young person’s environments to increase communication and lessen conflicts and dissonance. In youth sport, parents play a key role in athletes’ development of other supportive relationships, such as coach–athlete interactions (Jowett and Timson-Katchis 2005). Further, the structure and environment of a community appear to play a role in youth’s persistence and progression in sport, given research suggesting that smaller cities tend to produce more professional athletes (Cote et al. 2007).


...........continue in Part 2