In today’s society, particularly in America, participation in athletics has become a part of our culture and it provides a variety of ways to positively develop our youth. It’s great for youth development because the decision to join a youth sports team is a voluntary choice that children make. This means that they're already engaged and enjoy the activity that they're participating in and they're ready and willing to learn. This is unlike many other leisure activities spent outside of school such as learning to play an instrument, reading, going to the movies, or simply hanging out with friends. Youth sports places the kids in a team environment, which helps them develop the many traits they'll need in everyday life.

Jane Quinn (1999) may have said it best when she stated, “The popularity of sports among American youths suggests that such programs have untapped potential to promote positive youth development and engage even greater numbers of young adolescents” (p. 101). Her statement holds a heavy weight because many characteristics and attributes learned in an athletic setting will contribute to the development of the youth for adulthood. For example, children are exposed to things like socialization and teamwork and alternatives to the “streets.” They're shown how to work hard, earn trust, and take responsibility among other things. In addition to the character building traits that youth sports provide, it also aids in the physical development of our youth and helps them live a healthier lifestyle by getting them active. With the proper programs, coaching, participation, and support, athletics can be greatly used to develop more complete individuals and happier children.

Research on youth in athletics

Athletics has a much further reach in the athletes’ lives than many people realize. As stated earlier, it can be the motivation for many children to stay away from a life on the streets. This is very true for the adolescent age group in which they begin to compete in sports in unison with their education. Competing in interscholastic sports is usually judged on the social status it provides for the adolescents, but what often isn’t taken into consideration is the educational effects it can have. In a study conducted by Eccles and Barber (1999), youth in athletics obtained a higher connection to school and improved grade point averages and were more likely to attend college. Improved grade point averages and a higher likelihood of going to college are obvious positives in a youth’s education that can be an outcome of them playing a sport, but having a higher connection to school, in my opinion, may be the most important from a developmental point of view. For many high school athletes, the only reason they even stay in school is because of sports. This isn't ideal, but it's still significant according to Landers (1978) because “they might acquire additional skills and knowledge that may increase their chances of graduating, thereby enhancing their education and occupational mobility” (p. 299). So if the youth are staying in school solely for the sport they play, it shouldn't be thought of as a negative or understated. Instead, it should be capitalized on because they are still in school and can still be developed into a more complete adult in the future.

Participation in athletics at a young age also impacts the behavior of youth during the portion of their free time spent outside of their sport activity. American youth have a higher average of total free time and lower total work time in comparison to the European and East Asian cultures as described by Larson and Seepersad (2003). Table 1 gives a better look at the comparison to the American youth and the youth of Europe and East Asia.

This time gap can and should be combated to get our youth more involved in organized activity because it can have profound effects on development as well as on lowering crime rates among the youth. Landers and Landers (1978) conducted a study to see if the form of extracurricular activities had any effect on the rates of delinquency in the youth. What they found was that youth who participate in athletics, along with another leisure activity, have significantly lower rates of delinquency in comparison to kids who have no form of extracurricular activities.

Table 2 shows data they collected from their study. This has significant meaning and shows that increased activity in athletics results in a lower crime rate and better development.

Despite all the positives that sports provide youth, sports do have downfalls and weaknesses. As a strength and conditioning coach, the first weakness that comes to my mind is the quality of coaching in youth athletics. Coaches play a very important role in the experience of youth athletics because they are who the youths learn from and look to for guidance. Therefore, the youth’s attitude toward how he feels about his youth athletic experience relies heavily upon the style of coaching he receives. The problem that arises here is that many of the coaches are parent volunteers who are well versed in the sport's technical aspects but are lacking in the ability to create a positive psychological environment for the children (Smith and Smoll, 1997). In fact, Seefeldt and Ewing (1997) claimed that up to 90 percent of youth coaches have never had proper training in technique, first aid, injury prevention, or emergency care. That means if 90 percent of coaches aren’t properly trained or educated, the athletes they're coaching most likely aren't getting the proper instruction they need.

If the athletes aren't properly coached at younger ages, it compromises their development for later athletic endeavors. This is a problem I see in strength and conditioning very often, especially with incoming freshmen who have just finished a training program at the high school level. This younger age is arguably the most critical training time for athletes because what they initially learn, as far as training is concerned, affects their ability to train efficiently if they are lucky enough to make it to the collegiate level or higher. I find it easier to train athletes who have never previously trained for their sport simply because their minds are a clean slate. What I'm teaching them is the first thing that they have learned. On the other hand, the athletes who have been coached improperly tend to have bad habits, postural imbalances, and inconsistent form already ingrained because they were allowed to train that way initially. James Smith (2011), a highly respected strength and conditioning coach for youth athletes, stated, “The activities and training loads that youths are exposed to during those early years of development are fundamental and strongly correlated to their attainable ceiling for human performance later in life. An athlete who was misguided during the prepubescent years can't make up for lost time” (p. 1). This is significant because, as stated earlier, up to 90 percent of youth coaches aren’t properly qualified and may actually be doing a disservice to their athletes from a training perspective (Seefeldt and Ewing, 1997).

Coaches are also the primary mentor or role model for the athletes they coach. They influence everything the team does including drills, practice, and games; who plays and who doesn’t; and substitutions and play calling. Every coach should possess the ability to motivate and inspire the athletes to compete at their best while simultaneously building up the players after they falter in competition and need some encouragement. Smoll, Smith, Barnett, and Everett (1993) found that interest in the sport, confidence, and self-worth increased in the athletes when coaches were suitably trained. It is easy to see why coaches are a major role in the mindsets of the athletes and should be properly prepared to develop the athletes not only for competition but also emotionally and psychologically.

A second downfall in the role of sports in youth development is the gender disparity. The participation of girls’ activity in youth sports has always been less than the participation of boys’ activity, and girls have a higher dropout rate in athletics when compared to boys (Seefeldt and Ewing, 1997). More than likely, a multitude of factors are responsible for this disparity, but the lack of female coaches at a young age is probably the biggest reason. Seefeldt and Ewing (1997) stated,“ The lack of women coaches to serve as role models, counselors, and mentors of young girls in sports may be a subtle but formidable barrier to the entry and continued participation of girls in organized sports.”

This downfall in youth athletics is something that needs to be taken into consideration and one that can easily be cured. The role of female coaches should be taken into consideration when designing new youth sports programs, especially in the sports that are dominated by girls’ activity (volleyball, softball, cheer) and even co-ed sports (tennis, basketball, soccer). An increase in the number of female coaches and mentors will likely have a positive effect on the number of girls who join and continue their practice in youth athletics.

Peer status is another issue in athletics' role of development that can be very positive in a youth’s life, but only if it's handled properly and the athletes don’t deviate from social norms (Schafer, 1968). Athletics, especially at the high school and collegiate levels, can have a major effect on the peer status of an athlete. Because of our American culture, they are seen in competition by their peers and local community almost weekly. This type of exposure often leads to them being very recognizable and obtaining a heroic status in the eyes of their fans. While this can be a positive in the development of young athletes, oftentimes it is mishandled and has the opposite effect. Alcohol use, recreational drug use, and even performance enhancing drugs are negative effects that high school and collegiate athletes have the tendency to adopt in order to keep their heroic status, as stated by Eccles and Barber (1999) and Siegenthaler and Gonzalez (1997). These are difficult to combat but should be taken very seriously when dealing with younger athletes. What makes it so difficult to combat is our culture’s glorification of the superstar athletes, despite the fact that their personal lives aren't so praiseworthy. We need better education, coaching, and mentoring on these matters to attempt to lower alcohol and drug use among young athletes. An acceptable form of performance enhancing drug (PED) testing may be necessary to lower the use of these substances at the high school and collegiate levels.

Weaknesses in research of the role of athletics in development

Even though there has been quite a bit of research completed on the role of athletics in youth development, there are a few weaknesses in the research that need to be addressed. The first issue that needs to be looked into is what effects better funding would have on youth athletics. Better funding to sport organizations geared toward youth would open up possibilities that currently aren’t available, such as compensating more coaches and cutting back on the number of volunteer coaches. Offering compensation would also let the organization hire coaches that are qualified to instruct and motivate the young athletes, but without better funding toward youth athletics, this isn't possible for many organizations.

A substantial amount of research has been completed on the emotional and social effects of athletics in the younger athletes, but this area of research seems to stop once they reach the collegiate level. More research needs to be completed on the emotional and social effects of collegiate student-athletes. As a coach who has dealt with mainly this age group, I've seen that the athletes at this stage of their career are still developing as people and still need the guidance to properly develop the skills needed for life after college. Plenty of research has been conducted on the physical development of this age group, but little to no research has been conducted on the psychological development.

Conclusion

In conclusion to the research and information available, athletics is an avenue of great potential to positively develop our youth. Characteristics such as teamwork, resiliency, trust, leadership, and confidence are all possible outcomes when youth athletics is properly conducted. Educational benefits as well as lower youth crime are also significant outcomes that can't be overlooked and should be capitalized upon. Although the positives of sports are very considerable, we, as youth developers, need to make sure the right people are organizing and coaching our youth. If we neglect this point, children are likely to receive negative training effects and are more likely to drop out of the sport in which they compete. Coaching education is of the utmost importance so the athletes are psychologically and physically engaged in the sport. This will also result in a better experience for the children themselves. There are also other factors that should be examined further, like the effects better funding for youth athletic organizations could have and the psychological development within collegiate athletes. More research in these areas could lead to a better understanding of how to develop youths into complete people.

References

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