Coaches’ Reflections of Using a Charity-Driven Framework to Foster Youth Athletes’ Psychosocial Outcomes

Abstract

When structured appropriately, sport can promote psychosocial development in youth athletes. However, few frameworks exist that allow coaches to intentionally support youth’s psychosocial development through their sport programming. The Play Better framework represents one intentional approach that incorporates prosocial behavior where youth earn donations toward charitable causes for reaching process-based goals. Given the potential benefit that explicit strategies have for yielding positive developmental outcomes, there is a need for research to explore the role of intentionality in enhancing quality sport delivery. The purpose of this study was to understand coaches’ perceptions of using the framework within their coaching practices. Twenty-three soccer coaches (83% male) participated in a one-on-one semistructured interview analyzed inductively. Results indicated that coaches perceived the Play Better framework to (a) help enact their coaching philosophies; (b) enable youth choice, while supporting sport-skill development and enjoyment; (c) facilitate intentional approaches to life skills development and transfer; and (d) foster professional and personal development. This research provides initial evidence of the benefit of using an intentional framework, like Play Better, for athletes and coaches. Future research is needed to understand athlete and parent perspectives of utilizing the framework. Findings help inform future coach training resources and best practices.