Youth development through sport: It’s all about relationships

Abstract

The last decade has witnessed a signifi cant increase in the number of youth programs that are based on the belief that sport participation can enhance personal development and eliminate problems, yet rates of delinquency, gang involvement, obesity, and teenage pregnancy have not declined (Biglan et al. 2004). Unfortunately, simply playing sports does not ensure that young people will learn the skills and develop the attitudes that will prepare them for productive futures. There is growing evidence, however, that if sport is structured in the right way and young people are surrounded by trained caring adult mentors, positive youth development is more likely to occur (Petitpas et al. 2004). This chapter begins with a brief description of a theoretically based and empirically supported framework for developing sport programs that can foster positive psychosocial development in youth. Two multi-site programs, Play It Smart and The First Tee, based on this framework, are presented. The remainder of the chapter focuses on strategies for training caring adult mentors, and a discussion of some of the training and supervision challenges that occur in large multi-site programs.

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