Positive Youth Development through Sport

Cutting through the political rhetoric about the power of sport as a tool for social change and personal improvement, this book offers insight into how and why participating in sport can be good for children and young people.

Nicholas L. Holt is Dean and Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary, Canada. His research focuses on psychosocial aspects of sport and physical activity among children, adolescents, and their families. Meghan H. McDonough is Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary, Canada. Her research focuses on the role of social relationships in physical activity and well-being with a variety of populations across the lifespan. She has a long-standing line of research examining social processes in physical-activity-based positive youth development programs.

Introduction: The growth of positive youth development through sport. Part I: Concepts. 1. Toward a transdisciplinary approach to sport for development: The place of positive youth development. 2. The importance of person-context fit: A relational developmental systems perspective on positive development in and through sport. 3. Exploring short-term youth athlete development through the personal assets framework: Unveiling the layers of sport development. 4. The challenges, advances, and opportunities with the study and promotion of life skills transfer. Part II: Measurement. 5. The quantitative measurement of positive youth development in sport: Methodological considerations as the field ponders its future. 6. The quantitative assessment of positive youth development through sport. 7. Assessing the psychometric properties of life skills measures: What is best practice?. 8. Sport-based interventions for youth: Effectiveness and opportunities for growth. 9. Qualitative research on positive youth development in sport. Part III: Contexts. 10. Transitioning from normative toward emancipatory positive youth development research and practice: Portugal as an exemplary case. 11. Sport-based life skills development in South Korea. 12. Positive youth development and talent development: Pursuing dual intentions in a multilayered environment. 13. Posthumanist imaginaries for inquiring positive youth development through sport. 14. Centering Indigenous voices and experiences to advance positive youth development in sport research. 15. Positive development across the lifespan. 16. Addressing social vulnerability through sport-based positive youth development. 17. Promoting mental health in organised youth sport. Part IV: Evaluation. 18. An experiential approach to facilitative coaching and teaching social justice life skills. 19. How effective are afterschool physical-activity-based positive youth development programs? The need for more rigorous evaluation studies. 20. Community sport as a context for positive youth development. 21. Evaluation for positive youth development through sport.