Enduring Involvement in Youth Soccer: The Socialization of Parent and Child

Abstract

Youth sport provides an instructive context for study of reciprocal socialization between parents and children. This study examines the dynamics of parents' and children's enduring involvement in youth soccer. Parent and child pairs (N = 153) were surveyed. Measures were taken of parents' and children's satisfaction with their soccer program, enduring involvement, children's perceived skill, parental expectations for their child, parental encouragement of their child, and parents' commitment to their child's soccer program. A model was derived, then tested and revised using LISREL. Parents' program satisfaction, organizational commitment, encouragement, and enduring soccer involvement were found to have direct and indirect effects on children's perceived skill, program satisfaction, and enduring involvement in soccer (p <.015). No direct or indirect effect of children on their parents was found. However, the child's soccer organization was found to be a significant venue for parental socialization.