Decision-makers’ interactions that co-determine Positive youth development through sport: a critical realist examination

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study was to examine Portuguese coaches, coach developers, and sport administrators’ (i.e. decision-makers) interactions that co-determine positive youth development through sport. A critical realist approach was adopted using Elder-Vass’s framework on the causal power of social structures. A total of 47 Portuguese decision-makers from provincial and national sport organisations were interviewed, leading to 2350 minutes of interview data. The findings provide insights into how participants varied in their perspectives on the place of performance and positive youth development in the youth sport system. Coaches and sport administrators believed performance was the main priority and their discourses were shaped by (inter)actions with norm circles influencing their dispositions and beliefs about the purpose of youth sport. Conversely, coach developers challenged the status quo and were much more deliberate in wanting to change the priorities of the youth sport system. Coach developers were in a privileged position to ‘broker’ change by using their individual agency to work to further include positive youth development. Considering the pressures imposed by norm circles and the active role of individual agency, practical and theoretical implications are offered to develop a youth sport system where positive youth development can become a legitimate and worthwhile pursuit.