CHILDREN & SPORT

PSYCHOLOGY

Eileen Wolfe

University of West Florida

IMPORTANCE OF YOUTH SPORTS

Youth sports act as a microcosm of society

Socialization Problem solving Leadership Discipline Cooperation/

teamwork Dealing with

adversity Overcoming fear

Facing challenges Stress/arousal

regulation Healthy lifestyle Coordination Self-efficacy

PREVALENCE Nearly 45 million youth participate in

sports every year in U.S.Represents 66% of all out-of-school

activities for youth (Ewing & Seefeldt, 2002)

#1 reason for involvement is “To have fun”Other main reasons: improve skills, get in

shape, be with friends (Ewing & Seefeldt, 1996)

DROPOUT For every 10 youth that begin sport, 3 to 4

discontinue by next season (Gould & Petlichkiff, 1988)

50% of youth dropout of sport involvement by age 12 70% dropout by age 14 (University of Michigan

Institute for Social Research, 1981-1997) In any given year, 3 to 4 out of 10 will drop out

before the next season.

Reasons? _____________________________

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN AT RISK FOR HEIGHTENED COMPETITIVE STATE ANXIETY

Frequent worries about adult expectations and evaluation by others

Fear of failure Less perceived fun Less satisfaction with their performance,

regardless of winning or losing Perception that participation is important to

parents Outcome goal orientation and low perceived

ability Maladaptive Perfectionism

INTERVENTION Proper interventions can decrease

dropout rates and increase positive developmental outcomes

1)Positive reinforcement, 2)technical instruction, and 3) mistake-contingent encouragement from adults most important interventionsFocus on increasing desirable behaviors by

rewarding Coaches and parents can be trained

UNDERSTANDING THE CHILD ATHLETE

Need continuous and immediate reinforcement: positive approach

Not all want to become “Elite”

Stages of Athlete Development (Cote, 1999; Cote, Lidor, & Hackfort, 2009)

Sampling years Specializing years Investment years Recreational years

SAMPLING YEARS Majority of youth in this stage

Characterized by “deliberate play”

Kids voluntarily try variety of sports

Positive outcomes: Form opinions on sports, develop fundamental motor skills, socialize, learn to work with others

Essential building block of sport development

Can go into specializing or recreational

SPECIALIZING YEARS Characterized by a balance between deliberate

play and deliberate practice

Kids begin to focus on one or two sports that they enjoy

Skills such as problem solving, imagery, and goal-setting, along with socialization, self-concept, and self-esteem development (Chase & Drummer, 1992; Harter, 1978)

Should be challenging, yet fun!

Can go into investment or recreational

INVESTMENT YEARS Characterized by deliberate practice

Investment of training time, money, focusDevelopment of elite athletes

Win-at-all cost focus on performance and competition

Can teach leadership, responsibility, commitment, stress regulation

RECREATION YEARS Characterized by enjoyment and focus

on healthy lifestyle, socialization Not place for overly competitive level of play

Reason many join community sports rather than school-sponsored sports Less pressure Everyone given equal opportunity

More likely to experience less negative effects However, less likely to develop PST’s for

stress regulation

UNDERSTANDING THE YOUTH SPORT COACH

Majority are untrained volunteersMost coach how they were coachedTrained coaches have only 5% dropout rate

compared to untrained at 26% (Barnett, Smoll, & Smith, 1992)

Majority use combination of negative and positive approachShould follow 5:1 RULEPhil Jackson vs. Bobby KnightPositive Coaching Alliance

COACHING YOUTH SPORTS

Understand individual athlete goals

Model Sportsmanship Increases peer-to-peer positive reinforcement ROOTS: Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, Self

Practice PST’s to regulate own stress/arousal Imagery, self-talk, relaxation/breathing

Use positive, sincere feedback Sandwich Approach: Positive statement, Future-oriented

instruction, compliment

Smith, Smoll, Curtis (1979) CBAS Study Barnett, Smoll, & Smith (1992) follow-up

UNDERSTANDING YOUTH SPORT PARENTS

Single most important thing kids need from parents: Support

Emotional Informational Companionship Tangible

Continuum from underinvolved to overinvolved parents The healthiest development of the child athlete

takes place when the parent shows support and respect for the child athlete, teammates, coaches, officials, fans, and opponents alike, through a moderate level of involvement.

PARENTS GONE WILD “The Overinvolved Parent” Examples

EDUCATING PARENTS… Parents strongly influence their child’s

goals (Duda & Hom, 1993) and perceived competence (Brustad, 1993).

May not realize the impact of their influence

May not know how to communicate effectively with coaches and the child

Parent Orientation MeetingsParent Responsibilities and Code of Conduct

(American Sport Education Program, 1994) Can use as opportunity to tackle “Myths”

(pg.530-531)

REVIEW Which of the following is best

characterized by “deliberate practice” in athlete development?a) Sampling stageb) Specializing stagec) Investment staged) Reinforcement stagee) None of the above

REVIEW The stage of athlete development in

which an athlete invests all of their resources into one sport is known as the sampling stage.a. Trueb. False

REVIEW According to the University of

Michigan Institute for Social Research, approximately what percentage of athletes dropout of youth sports by the age of 14?a) 20%b) 30%c) 50%d) 70%e) None of the above

REVIEW Reinforcement for young athletes should

be __________ and __________________?a) Continuous and delayedb) Continuous and immediatec) Intermittent and delayedd) Intermittent and immediatee) None of the above

Feedback should be task oriented (not outcome oriented) and self-comparing (not peer comparing)

REVIEW

Which of the following should coaches use to deal with stresses of coaching and to be a good role model?a) Self-talkb) Relaxation/Breathing techniquesc) Imageryd) All of the abovee) None of the above

REVIEW True or False: Bobby Knight is a

spokesperson for the Positive Coaching Alliance and is displays a considerate coaching style.a) Trueb) False

REVIEW According to Youth sport coaches

should follow the 2:1 Rule by giving 2 positive feedbacks to every 1 negative feedback.a) Trueb) False

FINAL THOUGHTSCanadian Hockey PSA: YOUTUBE VIDEO

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