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Youth in Sport:
The good, the bad and ugly

Youth Sport?
Sports are the #1 organized acAvity for children and youth.

Three outcomes of sport involvement in youth:
ParAcipaAon
Development
Skill AcquisiAon and ExperAse

Benets of youth sport involvement:

Moderate to high intensity PA
Health benets

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Costs of declining involvement:

Obesity and overweight
Higher BP, cholesterol, and markers of metabolic
syndrome
Lower bone density
Greater rates of depression

Not all good news

Great rates of injury in acAve kids

Janssen and LeBlanc (2010). SystemaAc review of the health benets of physical acAvity and tness in school-aged
children and youth. Interna'onal Journal of Behavioral Nutri'on and Physical Ac'vity 2010, 7:40

Youth Sport?
Sports are the #1 organized acAvity for children and youth.

Three outcomes of sport involvement in youth:
ParAcipaAon
Development
Skill AcquisiAon and ExperAse

the unique combinaAon of psychological states,
intrinsic moAvaAon with concentraAon, suggests that
adolescents are awake, alive, and open to
developmental experiences in a way that is less
common in other parts of their daily lives and that
this unique combinaAon of agenAc states may make
these acAviAes a ferAle context for adolescents to
develop and teach themselves a wide range of posiAve
competencies, in addiAon to iniAaAve

Larson (2000). Toward a psychology of posiAve youth development. American Psychologist, 55, 170-183.

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PosiAve Youth Development (PYD)

Sport has the potenAal to contribute to PosiAve Youth
Development
The engagement in prosocial behaviours and avoidance of
health compromising behaviours and future jeopardizing
behaviours

Outcomes: school grades, school a`endance, more years in higher
educaAon by age 25, lower anAsocial behaviour, leadership,
increased condence, concern for others, problem-solving skills, and
enthusiasm for learning.

Five Cs of PosiAve Youth Development

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Condence
Competence
ConnecAon
Character


Caring/Compassion

Youth who demonstrate the 5Cs will also likely

demonstrate a sixth C ContribuAon.

*All youth have equal potenAal for PYD*

The First Tee

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The First Tee

Mission Statement
To impact the lives of young people by providing
learning faciliAes and educaAonal programs that
promote character development and life-
enhancing values through the game of golf.

Nine Core Values

Sportsmanship, Condence, Integrity,
Perseverance, Respect, Responsibility, Judgment,
Courtesy, Honesty

First Tee
Knowledge and understanding of life skills (i.e.,
communicaAon, respect, ajtude, self-management,
goal sejng)
47% increase in scores in 6-8 weeks

Use of life skills (e.g. goal sejng)

5% increase in scores in 6-8 weeks

Aiming bigreally big

Sport and QPE (Quality Physical EducaAon) to
promote PYD & Peace EducaAon
Social inequality and disease

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Right to Play

Kicking Aids Out

The Bad and the Ugly

A word of warning: We also know that youth
sport has negaAve potenAal.

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The bad and ugly

Injuries
EaAng disorders & drug abuse
Abuse
Denial of educaAon
Human Rights Issues
Child Labour Issues
Economic

The good, bad and ugly: ImplicaAons

Sport is not a magical black box

SPORT

Sport is not a magical black box

We cannot assume that all sports are equal
Some condiAons can help sport actualize its
posiAve potenAal

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8 features of sejngs that facilitate

posiAve youth development
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Physical and psychosocial safety

Appropriate structure
SupporAve relaAonships
OpportuniAes to belong
PosiAve social norms
Support for ecacy and ma`ering
OpportuniAes for skill building
IntegraAon of family, school, and community eorts

Developmental Assets
Sport should be supplemented by Developmental Assets
20 External Assets
Support
Empowerment
Boundaries and ExpectaAons
ConstrucAve Use of Time

20 Internal Assets
Commitment to Learning
PosiAve Values
Social Competencies
PosiAve IdenAty

External Developmental Assets

1. Family support
2. PosiAve family communicaAon
3. Other adult relaAonships
4. Caring neighborhood
5. Caring school climate
6. Parent involvement in schooling
7. Community values youth
8. Youth as resources
9. Service to others
10. Safety

11. Family boundaries

12. School boundaries
13. Neighborhood boundaries
14. Adult role models
15. PosiAve peer inuence
16. High expectaAons
17. CreaAve acAviAes
18. Youth programs
19. Religious Community
20. Time at home

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Internal Developmental Assets

21. Achievement MoAvaAon
22. School engagement
23. Homework
24. Bonding to school
25. Reading for pleasure
26. Caring
27. Equality and social jusAce
28. Integrity
29. Honesty
30. Responsibility

31. Restraint
32. Planning and decision making
33. Interpersonal competence
34. Cultural competence
35. Resistance skills
36. Conict resoluAon skills
37. Personal power
38. Self-esteem
39. Sense of purpose
40. PosiAve view of personal future

Take Home Message

Sport has both posiAve and negaAve potenAal
PosiAve outcomes resulAng from youth sport
parAcipaAon are more likely to occur when
programmes are explicitly designed to elicit
those outcomes (Zarre`, 2009)