Youth Development in North American High School Sport: Review and Recommendations

Abstract

Millions of high school student-athletes in North America practice sport, and national federations communicate through their mission statements that this fosters student-athletes’ positive development. The purpose of the current study was to review the recent literature to examine whether the educational claims made for youth development in the context of high school sport are substantiated by empirical evidence. The review indicates that recent research efforts have focused primarily on the positive outcomes and that much less is known of the possible negative outcomes of participation in high school sport. Researchers have examined stakeholders’ perspectives on development, but studies are scarce that objectively measure the actual developmental outcomes of participation in high school sport. The little available evidence indicates that adult stakeholders seldom interact and do not collaborate to foster student-athlete development. This narrative review provides insights on the current status of research on high school sport, and recommendations are provided to further facilitate youth development in this setting.