Impact of youth involvement in sport on positive youth development

This undergraduate honors thesis is a literature review paper that evaluates the impact of youth participation in sports on positive youth development (PYD). Existing studies on extracurricular activities and youth development primarily focused on the prevention of adjustment problems. However, more attention needs to be given to youth thriving and PYD. Lerner's PYD theory (2005) highlighted Five Cs of positive youth development: competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring. Guided by this framework, this paper aims to synthesize how participating in youth sports can contribute to PYD. For the purposes of this paper, youth sports are broadly defined as organized sports activities for children and adolescents under the age of 18. Overwhelmingly, empirical studies indicate that youth involvement in sports positively impacts the 5Cs of PYD (though see Larsen et al., 2006 for exceptions). PYD is vital in shaping youth to become the most optimally functioning version of themselves as adults. This paper highlights the importance of PYD through sport rather than simply the lack of negative development. Sports provide a unique avenue to PYD that many other structured youth activities do not, supporting the idea that youth involvement in sports foster optimal development. Much of the PYD associated with participation in sport is facilitated by coaches, teachers, parents, counselors, and other personnel involved in youth lives, and this paper outlines how to continue to spur PYD in the lives of the youth.