In the United States, sport is a very powerful cultural force in the society. Youth access and participation in sports activities are therefore important them, their parents, communities, formal academic institutions and the country on a whole. Sports participation generally serves broad purposes. Some of these are, for example: to provide children with fun and gratification; to fulfill what social psychology academics refer to as “affiliative” need for friendship, a sense of belonging, and such alike; to offer the near-term prospect of healthier minds and bodies through physical exercise; and for the long-term cumulative favorable outcome and benefit generally associated with youth development – www.americansportsdata.com.
What then constitute youth development and the process to become healthy, problem-solving, constructive adults? Young children in adolescence will need to: find a valued place in a constructive group; learn how to form close, durable human relations; feel a sense of worth as a person; achieve a reliable basis for making informed, deliberate decisions especially on matters that have large consequences, such as educational futures; know how to use available support systems; find ways of being useful to others beyond the self; believe in a promising future with real opportunities; cultivate the inquiring and problem-solving habits of mind for lifelong learning and adaptability; learn respect for democratic values and understand responsible citizenship; and build a health lifestyle. These characteristic or features essentially highlights what youth development means – See The Role of Sports in Youth Development at www.carnegie.org. Adults are therefore important in the developmental process of our youth. This is a fact, because most young people obtain the information they need through observation of others. And the lessons they learn reflect the quality of those observations, which hinge not only on the time they spend with family members and other adults, especially in sporting activities, but also in school with their peer group or in contact with the mass media.
It is important for parents and to know that sports help a lot to fulfill the basic social need of our adolescence youths. The major need and incentive for many children who participate in team sports, has not much to with athletics and everything to do with a newly acquired network of social relationships. This is particularly so for those teens who are lacking athletic skills and possibly self –esteem. So physical activities are sources of improved health and wellbeing. But not just young people who play sports benefit. Most people will agree that children who simply watch or attend sporting events learn important values. In fact, Americans (including both parents and adults without children) believe that there is a very positive association between sports and youth.
More than 9 in 10 Americans (92%) say that participation in sports is an important of youth development and nearly as many (89%) think that participation in sports helps build character in children. In addition, nearly all Americans (93%) say there are positive values for children associated with participating in sports and youth who do not actually play sports can still learn important values. Four in five Americans (80%) agree that kids who do not participate in sports can still learn important values by watching or attending sporting events – See Summary of Study Findings: Sports, Youth and Alcohol Advertising Study at www.cspinet.org.
Despite the above, some child development experts have informed us that, within the constellation of youth development, sports can be dwarfed by much larger influences and institutions such as: family, peer groups, public schools, healthcare systems, and community organizations. In the wider problem-focused world of youth development, the list includes counseling and treatment in the areas of drug addition, alcohol abuse, violence, gang membership, teen pregnancy, academic failure, homelessness, joblessness, and many others. So sports also need to work in harmony with those adversities of life in the interest of better or the best youth development achievements.
Hence, the experts have stated that, if we think about how sports can interact with educational or enrichment programs, for example, a four-level hierarchy can be suggested as follows: Level 1: Stand-alone youth sports programs that are purely recreational and unassociated with any youth development agenda. Level 2: Sports participation deployed as a “hook” to attract youth at drop-in centers or other programs. Level 3: Sports is the centerpiece of a youth development program, but remains disconnected from the developmental or educational component, functioning merely as a lever to encourage program attendance/performance. Level 4: Sports become directly relevant to youth development. Elements of the sports experience are synthesized with character education, skills acquisition, academic subjects or other enrichment themes.
But the professionals who have researched and presented the above have stated that all four (4) types of programs have there place, but Level 1, without a development component, is least likely to be funded. While level 2 programs abound, Level 3 programs are scarce. Level 4 initiatives are almost non-existent or very rare in existence. So sports participation in correlation with youth development can be very rare which can therefore hinder best practices for real youth development through sports activities. This is an issue that needs to be corrected in the interest of the youths and a nation future. See American Sports Data: Sports Participation and Youth Development Programs at www.americansportsdata.com. So real youth development through sports, in line with the definition and characteristics of youth development stated earlier above, should be examined and implemented taking examples like the four Levels mention (and others) above in consideration.
The practical importance of community youth organizations, coaches, and parents power and ability to influence the outcomes that children gain from their sporting activities should always be remembered. The best moral and practical demonstration of good development values must be revealed by the above in the interest of the youth. Research shows that a win-at-all costs atmosphere in a youth sports program is harmful to a child’s development. Likewise, the negative experiences that a child may have while participating in such type of atmosphere are linked to the development of low self-esteem, fear of failure and a lack of desire to continue participating in a youth sporting experience – See Putting Youth Back Into Sports at http://sdces.sdstate.edu. Across the board, therefore, adults must demonstrate exemplary leadership qualities which means being aware of the fears and anxieties felt by those you lead even as you urge them to overcome those fears. It can appear in a speech before hundreds of people or in a dialogue with one other person or simply by example – See Values of the Game by Bill Bradley, 1998 page 103.
Therefore, we must consistently bear in mind that the ultimate goal of youth sport program should be to nurture children’s intrinsic motivation for sport. Programs that focus on deliberate play activities and the sampling of various sports, can eventually promote the development of self-regulation, decision-making skills, and feelings of competence in children. These important skills and feelings are key to the real sustainable development of our youths and their future – Youth Sports: Implementing Findings and Moving Forward with Research at www.athleticinsight.com.
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