Coaching for Positive Youth Development in High School Sport

Abstract

This chapter investigates optimal ways to structure and deliver high school sport to promote Positive Youth Development (PYD). It presents a brief overview of the developmental outcomes reported in the literature, followed by an examination of the role of coaches in facilitating the developmental process. The chapter concludes with suggestions to enhance the high school sport experience and recommendations for future research. Some qualitative studies have examined students' perspective on how participation in high school sport has influenced their personal development. Findings indicated how students believed high school sport afforded them opportunities to develop diverse life skills and values, including time management, self-efficacy, responsibility, communication, leadership, and perseverance. Studies have investigated the types of developmental outcomes coaches expect youth to gain from high school sport, with findings indicating that coaches have high expectations of themselves to foster youth's physical, psychological, and social development.