Establishing and Maintaining a Modified Youth Sport Program: Lessons from Hotelling’s Location Game

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 326-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Chalip ◽  
B. Christine Green

Modified youth sport programs seek to adapt sport rules, equipment, and contingencies to the needs and abilities of child participants. Research shows that modified programs can broaden the base of youth sport participation, enhance children’s affective experience of sport, and elevate the level of skill they attain. Hotelling’s location game is applied to the analysis of a modified youth soccer program. It is shown that the program struggled to retain the modifications it had implemented and was gradually compelled to adopt elements of the traditional youth sport programs it had initially rejected. This finding is consistent with predictions derived from Hotelling. It is argued that modified programs will have difficulty maintaining their distinctiveness from traditional youth sport if they are implemented within established sport club structures. A framework for facilitating the establishment and maintenance of modified youth sport programs is suggested.

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica C. Force ◽  
Dustin Johnson ◽  
Matthew Atkins ◽  
Trent A. Petrie

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra K. Kellstedt ◽  
Michaela A. Schenkelberg ◽  
Ann M. Essay ◽  
Mary J. Von Seggern ◽  
Richard R. Rosenkranz ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Physical activity, a high-frequency health behavior, varies by where children live, learn, and play. Children accumulate physical activity in adult-led in-school and out-of-school settings. Youth sport is a potential setting for physical activity, but there are differences in youth sport participation based on age, sex, and socioeconomic status. There is a gap in understanding demographic influences on youth sport participation and how these factors interact to influence physical activity. This study examines influences of grade, sex, and family income on youth sport participation and these factors and youth sport participation on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of children in rural communities. Methods Children (n = 418 3rd–6th graders) living in two rural communities completed the online Youth Activity Profile as part of Wellscapes, a type 3 hybrid implementation-effectiveness community randomized trial. Mixed models with community as a random effect examined main effects and interactions of grade, sex, and family income on youth sport participation and these factors and youth sport participation on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Results About 80% of children engaged in youth sport, and full-pay lunch students were almost four times more likely to have youth sport participation than students with free/reduced lunch (OR = 3.91, 95% CI = 1.95, 7.8). Females and 6th graders (p < 0.05) had lower physical activity than comparison groups. Males with higher family income had greater physical activity; females with higher family income had less physical activity. For 6th graders, high family income had less effect on physical activity than similar 3rd-5th graders (p < 0.01). Conclusions While a fairly high percentage of children participate in youth sports, there are disparities in rural communities on youth sport participation and physical activity outcomes based on age, sex, and family income.


Author(s):  
Andrew Kerins ◽  
Mariela Fernandez ◽  
Kimberly Shinew

Municipal governments continue to struggle with decreased funding. In order to offset depleting funds, agencies rely on volunteers to provide resources to the public. In youth sport programs, parents provide much of the support, and it is estimated that 90% of youth sport coaches are parents. Given that parents have been instrumental in youth sport programs, the purpose of this study was to understand parents’ experiences and insights associated with volunteering by using a youth soccer program located in a mid-sized town in Illinois as a case-study. Specifically, the study examined (a) parents’ motivations in volunteering, (b) challenges parent coaches faced while volunteering, and (c) parent coaches’ recommendations to agency personnel. Using a purposive sample, 11 parents were interviewed. Findings indicated that parents were motivated to volunteer in order to help their child, and several expressed a more in-depth philosophy about giving back to the community. The primary motivation and benefit for volunteer coaches was their relationships with the children. Relationships with other adults in the program were also significant, but they tended to be secondary. Challenges in volunteering included working with the children, parents, and agency staff. Agency recommendations included providing incentives to coaches, conducting player assessments, ensuring that recruited volunteers share the agency’s philosophy, and addressing volunteer concerns.


1992 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda M. Petlichkoff

In 1990 the Athletic Footwear Association (AFA) (1) released a report entitled “American Youth and Sports Participation” that examined teenagers’ (ages 10-18 years) feelings about their sport involvement. This report was the culmination of an extensive study of more than 10,000 young people from 11 cities across the U.S. in which issues related to why teenagers participate, why they quit, and their feelings about winning were addressed.1 The results highlighted in the AFA report indicate that (a) participation in organized sports declines sharply as youngsters get older, (b) “fun” is the key reason for involvement and “lack of fun” is one of the primary reasons for discontinuing, (c) winning plays less of a role than most adults would think, and (d) not all athletes have the same motivations for their involvement.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 619-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole D Bolter ◽  
Shelley M Lucas

According to the positive youth development framework, sportspersonship and character development is an expected outcome from participation in youth sport. Previous studies have shown mixed results in terms of how gender affects young athletes’ sportspersonship, suggesting it is important to explore how boys and girls are taught about sportspersonship by their coaches. In this study, we interviewed six female and six male youth sport coaches who had coached both girls’ and boys’ teams at recreational and competitive levels to examine coaches’ expectations regarding sportspersonship, with a specific focus on those beliefs associated with gender. Our analysis indicated that gender does matter, as represented in the two emergent higher-order themes—(a) Observations of Athletes’ Sportspersonship Behaviors and (b) Teaching Sportspersonship to Girls and Boys—representative of two and four lower-order themes, respectively. Results showed that gender mattered in terms of coaches’ reported strategies for teaching about sportspersonship, suggesting that youth sport participation builds gendered character.


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 101832
Author(s):  
Jordan T. Sutcliffe ◽  
Peter J. Kelly ◽  
Stewart A. Vella

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew T. Bowers ◽  
B. Christine Green ◽  
Florian Hemme ◽  
Laurence Chalip

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (S1) ◽  
pp. S24-S29
Author(s):  
Kerri Bodin ◽  
Georgia Teare ◽  
Jordan T. Bakhsh ◽  
Marijke Taks

Youth sport participation preferences are evolving and shifting toward unorganized, nontraditional types of sport participation. This trend has left more traditional sports with decreasing participation numbers. Baseball Canada noticed a similar trend and therefore implemented an innovative approach to increase interest and participation in baseball. This case study follows Alex, the Manager of Sport Development at Baseball Canada, as they develop and evaluate Baseball5™, an innovative street version of the traditional sport of baseball. This alternative form of baseball needs to be tested and evaluated in five pilot programs throughout Canada. Alex collects survey, interview, and focus group data following each of the pilot programs to determine whether the approach is viable for increasing interest in baseball long term. After reading the case, students are tasked with analyzing the collected data and designing the Baseball5™ program for long-term implementation. The case is ideal for upper year undergraduate students who have the skills and knowledge necessary to execute program evaluations and build holistic program implementation plans, and for undergraduate courses in research methods or data analysis.


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