Athletes’ Perceptions of Positive Development Resulting from Canadian Intercollegiate Sport: A Content Analysis

Abstract

Governing bodies of university sport have adopted more holistic approaches to the development of their athletes (Canadian Interuniversity Sport, 2013; NCAA, 2015). To our knowledge, there has been little empirical effort made to describe and assess positive development in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) context. In this study, we qualitatively examined positive development outcomes associated with athletes’ participation in CIS sport programs. We conducted semi-structured open-ended interviews with 15 student-athletes (5 male, 10 female; Mage = 22, range = 17-26). To analyze the data, we performed a deductive content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) using positive development categories found within the Youth Experience Survey (YES 2.0; Hansen & Larson, 2005). Athletes discussed positive developmental outcomes consistent with all YES categories. Our results suggest university sport programs offer rich opportunities for developing skills, qualities, experiences, and relationships needed to become functioning members in our society.