Mission & Purpose of Youth Sport

I am sure that many of you will vehemently assert the obvious benefits of the youth sport experience, namely that participation builds character, teaches teamwork, discipline, and a myriad of other values our society professes to hold dear. But does it?  Unfortunately, research that has examined the impact of youth sport participation does not support what has become almost a common sense acceptance of the belief that sport builds character. 

For example, University of Idaho researchers Sharon Stoll and Jennifer Beller recently concluded, “Forty years of research, conducted by more than 20 researchers studying tens of thousands of athletes and nonathletes from youth, high school, collegiate, and Olympic levels, simply does not support the notion of sport as a character-building activity, particularly as it applies to sportsmanship behaviors and moral-reasoning ability.”  The weight of evidence seems to confirm the opinion of some researchers who have stated that sport is simply a context that reveals character and that if you want to build character, you should try something else. 

Perhaps most interesting is research from Brenda Bredemeier and her colleagues that suggests that adults and children alike tend to suspend their normal level of moral reasoning when they enter the sporting arena. Specifically, individuals adopt a form of game reasoning whereby they are more willing to accept unethical behavior simply because “it’s sport and not real life.”

Many of you will no doubt find the research findings inconsistent with your own perception and beliefs about the youth sport experience.  I would ask you to take a minute, and a very large step back, and reflect critically on your own sport experience and that of your children.  For example, think about the quiet, upstanding member of society who becomes the out of control sideline parent berating an official at her son’s Friday night high school football game.  The volunteer youth coach who in his best “Bobby Knight” impersonation exalts the 10 year olds who make up his youth soccer team to “get ugly” and “kick some ass.”  Consider the parents who glow when their daughter wins but are quiet when she loses.  Finally, ask yourself the question, when and where did I learn to cheat?  These are tough questions as they strike at the heart of some of the core beliefs of American society. It is important however, that we take the opportunity to consider these questions. 

I am not suggesting that all children are learning negative values in youth sport.  I have no doubt that many children are learning lessons that will enable them to be successful later in life.  They are learning to strive for excellence, to commit to an activity that does not offer instant gratification at a time when this is the norm for American youth, to persist in the face of challenge and adversity, and to embrace the journey rather than the destination.  But what is it about the experience that can determine such a divergent set of outcomes? Research my colleagues and I have conducted both in the United States and Europe has shown that coaches and parents exert a significant influence on the youth sport experience and may be the deciding factor in determining the values and behaviors a child comes to internalize.

Our findings have shown that coaches and parents who emphasize winning as the sole source of success contribute to the creation of a sport climate that promotes dishonesty and selfishness.  In such an environment where winning is everything, young people quickly internalize the value that it is acceptable to do anything to win.  In contrast, a sport climate that emphasizes striving for personal improvement and mastery can make sports an effective activity to assist in the development of positive values and morals.  Consistent with the meaning of the Latin word competere, young athletes in this environment view their opponents as co-creators of an experience, and competition as a process of striving with, not against, others. 

Greek author and philosopher Plato once said “you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”  The results of the research examining sport and character development would suggest that we may be able to learn more about a parent or coach in an hour of youth sport than in a year of conversation! 

We at the AIA Academy implore all parents and coaches to recommit, or commit, to their role as the ethical leaders of the youth sport experience.  We know that if the adults involved in the youth sport experience do their part, the children will learn lessons that will enable them to be successful later in life and, most importantly, have a great time.