Youth Sport Participation

This research, conducted by Armenian Progressive Youth NGO, explores the current state of youth participation in policy development and decision-making in Armenia. Focusing on the perspectives of youth, local authorities, and experts, the study examines the challenges and opportunities for young people’s engagement in political, civic, and community processes. It identifies key barriers such as the lack of accessible platforms, inadequate cooperation between local governments and youth, and the limited understanding of youth roles in formal political participation. Utilizing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including focus groups, expert interviews, and surveys, the research offers a comprehensive situational analysis of youth engagement at both community and state levels. The study highlights that while young people are increasingly motivated to participate, their involvement often remains tokenistic, with their voices seldom influencing actual decision-making. The report proposes a range of recommendations to strengthen youth participation, including improved educational initiatives, the development of accessible participation platforms, and the establishment of youth advisory councils. This research contributes valuable insights into how Armenia can foster a more inclusive and proactive environment for youth participation in governance and policy development.

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between best-friend conflicts in a sports team and amotivation among female youth, investigating the possible mediation role of depressive feelings. Material and Method: Participants were 140 girls (13-17 years of age) attending some Italian volleyball societies. Best-friend conflicts, amotivation in sports and depressive feelings were assessed by athletes' self-report questionnaires. Results: Findings revealed that best-friend conflicts were positively associated with amotivation in sports. Depressive feelings were found to mediate this association. Discussions and Conclusions: Findings suggest that best-friend conflicts are salient features related to amotivation in sports among female youths. Moreover, the mediation effect indicates that amotivation in sports might be linked to depressive feelings of females with experiences of best-friend conflicts in the sports team. Particular attention should be devoted by sport professionals to the negative side of dyadic friendships among youth athletes. Overtime, this focus could prevent sport dropouts and promote a healthy sport experience among youth.

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine friendship quality with a best friend in youth disability sport with an international sample of moderately experienced athletes with disabilities ages 9 to 18 years. Participants were 85 males and 65 females from four countries who competed in track and field and swimming. Data were collected with the Sport Friendship Quality Scale (Weiss & Smith, 1999). An exploratory factor analyses indicated that participants viewed their friendship quality with a best friend in disability sport as having both positive and negative dimensions. The latter focused exclusively on conflict experiences. Females reported stronger perceptions of the benefits of their friendships than males did; whereas no gender differences occurred in perceptions of the negative aspects to friendships. Item analyses indicated that females scored higher than males on questions reflecting loyalty, providing intimacy, self-esteem, supportiveness, having things in com...

This study investigated achievement goal orientation profile differences between youth swimmers on perceived competence and enjoyment, and the contribution of goal orientation and perceived competence to enjoyment in swimming. Male and female swimmers (n=302), aged 10-18 years (M=12.7; sd=2.25) completed a questionnaire assessing goal orientation, perceived competence and enjoyment in swimming. Cluster analysis revealed four goal orientation profile groups: high task/high ego, moderate task/low ego, high task/moderate ego and low task/moderate ego. MANOVA was conducted and a significant multivariate effect was found (Wilks=0.762; F=14.370; p=0.000; ES=0126). Further, Scheffe's post-hoc comparisons tests revealed that swimmers scoring relatively high in both task and ego orientations, with a balance between the two, reported high values for perceived competence and enjoyment. Finally using two-way factorial MANOVA it was found that the interaction between the perceived competence and goal orientation profiles was not significant. Emphasizing task orientation for young athletes is a means to increase enjoyment in sport, regardless of their level of perceived competence.

Psychosocial aspects of participation in youth disability sport were examined using social-cognitive theory and the sport commitment model. An international sample of athletes with disabilities (N = 112) reported high levels of sport commitment and sport enjoyment, perceived physical ability, and sport friendship quality. They perceived their parents to provide moderately strong levels of encouragement of their sport participation. Correlational analyses indicated moderate to strong relationships among sport commitment, sport enjoyment, and perceived physical ability. Sport commitment, parental encouragement, and sport friendship quality were only somewhat related. Regression analyses indicated that enjoyment was a significant predictor (i.e., 43% of the variance) of sport commitment. The sport experience was a positive one for these athletes and enjoyment is likely a critical motivational factor in promoting a continued desire to remain in sport.

Children and adolescents need opportunities to regularly engage in fun and age-appropriate physical activities to maintain healthy development and fitness. 1 Schools can offer a safe and supervised environment for promoting children's physical activity to help reduce the risk of obesity and other negative health outcomes. Studies show, however, that children's access to school-based fitness activities, such as physical education (PE) and recess, has declined in the past 15 years. 3 More recent perspectives reflect a shift in thinking about the value of school physical activity, challenging the notion that efforts to boost student achievement must come at a cost to children's physical health. Notably, in a recent press release, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan advocated for dedicating more time to fitness-promoting activity in schools, arguing that "helping students become more active physically also helps students become more successful academically."...

Sport represents an important achievement domain, where fear of failure and anxiety are permanently present. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between fear of failure and anxiety in sport contexts. A total of 405 athletes completed the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory and the Sport Anxiety Scale-2. In this study, a structural equation modelling was used to test this relationship. The results gathered, provided evidence that fear of failure construct has a direct and positive influence on sport anxiety. Furthermore, and consistent with previous studies, a relationship between fear of failure and anxiety was found, indicating that athletes with higher levels of fear of failure displayed a tendency of having greater anxiety levels. These findings highlights the importance of fear of failure in sport contexts, especially as a predictor of sport anxiety in athletes.

In formal terms, physical activity refers as institutionalized sports practices performed in standardized areas depending on certain rules. However, the activities mentioned in the literature under the name of informal sports activities are activities that are based on spatial experience and are intertwined with the social structure, apart from the logic of competition and progress. For the purpose of this study, new data obtained from secondary sources evaluated. Between 2012 and 2018, it is seen that there is a 4.7% decrease in the participation of 6-12 age group children in individual sports and a 3.5% decrease in team sports. Considering that sports participation rates have started to decrease nowadays, designing and planning urban spaces for informal sports activities may offer a solution to this problem. In this context, the purpose of the study is to examine how urban spaces should be handled within the scope of the sustainability of physical activities/sports activities in the sense of informal sports, and to provide suggestions for expanding sports to wider audiences and different groups (age, gender, ability, culture, class, income, etc.). In this study, sports participation rates were analysed using secondary data sources and these results were discussed within the scope of informal sports. As a result, it is suggested that providing equal opportunity for the development of informal sports activities, public spaces should be transformed to promote physical activity and informal sports. This will only be possible by increasing the quality of urban spaces and improving the landscape character.

Building upon Deci's and Ryan (1985) Self-determination theory as well as the sportive behavioral correlates of the model of Commitment (Scanlan et al., 1976), this study tries to establish the relationship between motivation and commitment in youth sport. For this purpose 454 young competitive soccer players answered the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) and the Sport Commitment Questionnaire (SCQ) during the regular season. The SMS measures the three dimensions of the Motivational continuum (the Amotivation, the Extrinsic Motivation and the Intrinsic Motivation). The SCQ measures the Sportive Commitment and its composing factors such as the Enjoyment, the Alternatives to the sport, and the Social Pressure. Our findings provided a clear pattern of the influence of motivation in sport enjoyment and commitment, outlining the positive contribution of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to enjoyment and commitment. Amotivation, contributes positively to alternatives to sport and negatively to enjoyment and commitment. It should be noted that extrinsic motivation has a higher contribution to enjoyment whereas intrinsic motivation has a higher contribution to commitment.

Tilgangur þessarar rannsóknar var að kanna ýmsa meinafraeðilega þaetti krabbameins í ristli á 35 ára tímabili með tilliti til áhrifa þeirra á lifun sjúklinga. Efni og aðferðir: Öll vefjasýni úr sjúklingum sem greindust með ristilkrabbamein á Íslandi á árunum 1955-1989 voru endurskoðuð og metin með tilliti til eftirfarandi meinafraeðilegra þátta: staerð aexlis, útlit, vefjagerð, gráða, Dukes-flokkun, sogaeða-og eða blóðaeðaíferð, aexli með tilliti til hliðarbrúnar skurðsýnis, Jass-flokkar, eitilfrumuíferð í umhverfi aexlis, hvort aexli var innan ristilveggjar eða vaxið út fyrir hann, meinvörp í eitla, vaxtarháttur aexlisjaðars og slímaexlisútlit. Auk þessa var eftirfarandi athugað: aldur við greiningu, kyn, greiningarár og staðsetning aexlis innan ristils. Allir þessir þaettir voru metnir með tilliti til lifunar sjúklinga. Niðurstöður: Alls greindust 1265 einstaklingar á rannsóknartímabilinu með ristilkrabbamein samkvaemt Krabbameinsskrá Krabbameinsfélags Íslands, en eftir endurmat voru 1205 þeirra taldir vera með aexli upprunnið í ristli. Unnt var að endurmeta vefjasýni frá 1109 þessara sjúklinga út frá meinafraeðilegum þáttum. Við einþátta greiningu reyndust allflestir þeir þaettir sem athugaðir voru marktaekir áhaettuþaettir lifunar. Þetta átti þó ekki við um kyn, staðsetningu aexlis innan ristils og hlutfall slímaexlisútlits. Við fjölþátta greiningu kom fram að dánarlíkur jukust marktaekt með haekkandi aldri við greiningu og greiningarár/tímabil greiningar hafði einnig áhrif. Eftirfarandi meinafraeðilegir þaettir höfðu sjálfstaett forspárgildi fyrir lifun: gráða aexlis, Dukes-flokkur, fjöldi eitla með meinvörpum, eitilfrumuíferð í umhverfi aexlis, hliðarbrún sýnis og vaxtarháttur aexlisjaðars. Ályktanir: Margir meinafraeðilegir þaettir hafa for

Sport represents an important achievement domain, where fear of failure and anxiety are permanently present. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between fear of failure and anxiety in sport contexts. A total of 405 athletes completed the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory and the Sport Anxiety Scale-2. In this study, a structural equation modelling was used to test this relationship. The results gathered, provided evidence that fear of failure construct has a direct and positive influence on sport anxiety. Furthermore, and consistent with previous studies, a relationship between fear of failure and anxiety was found, indicating that athletes with higher levels of fear of failure displayed a tendency of having greater anxiety levels. These findings highlights the importance of fear of failure in sport contexts, especially as a predictor of sport anxiety in athletes.

Middle managers have demanding roles and often experience themselves between a rock and a hard place, and their jobs are characterized by heavy workload and stress. They have not received adequate attention in management science, in particular within healthcare. We know, for example, little about how stressful factors in the work environment are related to musculoskeletal pain and sleep. The purpose of this study was to examine this relationship. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which data was collected by a questionnaire which was sent electronically to 137 nursing managers through the Outcome-survey system. The response rate was 80.9%. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for statistical analysis. The results showed a clear link between stressful factors in the work environment and insufficient sleep, after controlling for the effects of age, marital status and the number of staff in the nursing unit. Stressful factors in the work environment a...

Background: COVID-19 continues to represent the single biggest challenge to contemporary community sport globally. Compliance with social distancing policies, strict return-to-play protocols, and COVID-19 specific training has, perhaps, forever changed the way that children and young people engage in organised sport. Within this context, and while many children and families seek to re-engage with community sport, we (researchers and sport practitioners) have an obligation to ask questions about how the pandemic has impacted youth sport, understand the short-and long-term consequences, and explore what (if any) opportunities can be seized to assist and improve future participation and retention. The aim of this paper was to present an in-depth exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on youth sport in South Australia. Methods: Within an interpretive descriptive methodology, this qualitative investigation draws on rich, individual interview and focus group data with 39 youth (ages 15-18), parents, coaches, and sport administrators. A reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken, leading to the development of four substantive themes. Results: We conceptualised the '4 Rs' to advance theoretical understandings about the pandemic's impact on youth sport, including the themes 'recognising struggle', 'reconnection', 're-engaging after restrictions, and 'reimagining sport'. The themes captured insights about a decline in mental wellbeing and physical activity, an increase in family connectedness, the challenge for sports to attract volunteers and participants back into sport, and the opportunities to reset values and philosophies underpinning the provision of youth sport.

These studies examine children’s interpretation of movement activities in Italian first level schools from first through fifth grade levels. We found an age- dependent effect towards several criteria. In older children, we note an increase in the number of items, an improved link to social areas, the emotional environment, and focus upon specific purposes for sport and physical activity. Further, results show a reduction in sport participation in older children. Comparing the children’s answers in third, fourth and fifth grade, there’s a correspondence between the practiced sports and the ones considered adequate for themselves. Based upon the differences found in the inter-classes comparison, we can argue that, because of the development of social relationships built within the school environment, there is a tendency to practice sport together with the class-mates. However, if the discipline is perceived as inadequate, there is a great risk of sport drop-out. Besides that, the closed-skill disciplines are particularly exposed to the risk of drop- out.
To reduce sports drop-out and build social-oriented sport practices, we suggest promoting a positive emphatic framework adequate to the need of novelty seeking. We also suggest to focus on the promotion of good values such as fair-play and good lifestyle by doing activities for self-evaluation and by proposing a wide spectrum of sports.

The Icelandic vocabulary of primary school pupils whose first language is other than Icelandic Vocabulary is linked to reading comprehension and highly correlated with academic achievement. Vocabulary size varies greatly between individuals already at an early age, and the gap tends to grow every year. Research suggests that second language learners often experience difficulties at school mainly because of limited vocabulary. This study examined the Icelandic vocabulary of 174 children in 1st through 4th grade whose first language was other than Icelandic. Total scores increased significantly with age and even more with duration of residence in the country. The increase in total scores between 2nd through 4th grade and residence from two years up to seven years was however not statistically significant. L2 children in all age groups scored significantly lower than 1st grade L1 Icelandic children. Children from Eastern Europe scored higher than children whose first language was not European. The relation between vocabulary scores and number of Icelandic lessons per week was not significant.

It is well documented that parents can comprise a significant positive influence in the youth sport setting. Parents are often acknowledged for providing support and encouragement in addition to the necessary financial and logistical support that enables sporting opportunities. However, there is also a concern that parents possess the potential to negatively influence the participatory experience. While this socio-cultural phenomenon has received much academic attention in the international community, the impact of sport policy on parental behaviour has been largely overlooked. This paper is one of several to emerge from a larger qualitative study on parental influence in the junior Australian football experience in South Australia. Drawing upon rich qualitative data derived from focus groups and individual interviews with parents (n = 34), children (n = 52) and coaches (n = 16), this paper examines their attitudes and perceptions toward the code of conduct in junior Australian football. The results indicate that wider social and cultural imperatives can impact the meaning and significance of the code of conduct policy for encouraging positive parental behaviour. The implications for sport providers and policy-makers include a consideration for adopting a ‘top-down’ approach to address issues of parental behaviour in children’s and youth sport.

The junior Australian football landscape has been frequently linked to reports of undesirable parental behaviour, yet sufficient understanding around this potential socio-cultural issue remains limited. In light of this paucity, the study presented within this paper makes a unique contribution to the broad field of parent
sport literature by offering an insight into the self-perceived nature of parental involvement in junior Australian football. This research draws on in-depth qualitative data obtained during three separate focus group interviews from 15 parents of junior Australian football participants in South Australia. Participants provided rich, descriptive information which, through a thematic content analysis, led to the emergence of six principal themes. This paper considers two of those key themes which concern the diverse, yet equally significant relationships within the
junior Australian football experience
(a) the parent
child relationship, and (b) the parent
parent relationships. This research not only provides the reader with an insight into the tensions around parent-oriented relationships in junior Australian football, but underlines the need for greater academic attention toward understanding this socio-cultural issue.

Characteristic issues surrounding parents in youth sport include examples of negative verbal and
non-verbal behaviour demonstrated during competition. Numerous studies have done well to
highlight while parents possess a great potential for positively influencing the sport experience, they
can also exert a considerable negative influence by engaging in a range of non-preferred and
inappropriate behaviours. There is certainly a need to further understand the nature of the sportparenting
paradigm given that encouraging and supportive parental involvement is a critical factor
in promoting enjoyment and intrinsic motivation among participants. This is particularly important
given that children’s preferred parental behaviours are temporally dependent. That is, different
types of parental involvement are preferred before, during and after competitive sport. However,
one aspect of parental involvement in youth sport which has been largely overlooked is the postgame
setting. Drawing on qualitative data derived from focus groups and individual interviews with
86 parents and children involved in junior Australian football, this paper reveals an aspect of the
sport-parenting role which can further enhance or undermine the youth sport experience.
Specifically, it reveals an intriguing insight into the way that parents engage in ‘debriefing’
children’s performances—representing a challenge for parents who strive to engender a positive
and supportive influence in youth sport. While the concept of sport-parenting receives much
attention within the competitive setting, this paper argues that in order to enhance the quality of
parental involvement in youth sport, much can be learnt from exploring ‘what happens after
the game’.

The aims of this study were twofold: (a) to determine if dispositional achievement goal orientation profiles that are reported in the literature would be observed in a sample of youth athletes, and (b) to examine potential achievement goal orientation profile differences on perceptions of the motivational climate, perceptions of peer relationships, and motivation-related responses. Male soccer players (n ¼ 223) aged 9 -12 years (mean ¼ 10.9, s ¼ 0.6) completed a multi-section questionnaire containing assessments of dispositional goal (task, ego) orientations, the perceived task-and ego-involving features of the motivational climate, perceived peer acceptance and friendship quality (positive friendship quality, conflict), perceived ability, soccer enjoyment, and satisfaction with one's performance and the team. Four profiles were observed that closely matched those observed by , though in the present study a lower proportion of participants exhibited achievement goal profiles consisting of relatively high ego orientation. Achievement goal profile differences were found for all variables except positive friendship quality, with a general trend for those reporting relatively lower task goal orientation to exhibit less adaptive responses. Overall, the findings support achievement goal frameworks (e.g. and suggest that further examination of dispositional achievement goals may afford a deeper understanding of social relationships and motivational processes in youth sport.

This paper uses evidence from surveys in 1997 among a total of 900 young people (aged 20-26) in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine to assess the impact of post-communism on their participation in sport and other leisure activities. Despite the rundown of public facilities and organized youth sport, participation was holding up reasonably well. Young males (and rather fewer females) were creating their own opportunities to play sport in parks and other open spaces. However, the main trends in young people's leisure were towards home-centredness, which was associated with rising investment in home entertainment equipment, towards spending money on 'quality' holidays, and towards making regular visits to the bars and restaurants that private commerce had opened in all three countries. It is argued that participant sport is highly vulnerable to, rather than a likely beneficiary of, the reforms in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and that this situation is likely to continue into the 21st century.

The lack of physical activity is an epidemic problem among American youth today. In order to combat this, many schools are incorporating youth running programs as a part of their comprehensive school physical activity programs. These youth running programs are being implemented before or after school, at school during recess at the elementary level, or as a community physical activity program at both the primary and secondary levels. This article highlights 13 nationwide youth running programs and 19 additional programs offered in geographic-specific locations within the United States. Moreover, many adult marathon races now provide a simple “Kid's Marathon” mileage training plan so that youth can try to accumulate 25 (or 25.2) miles in the weeks leading up to the race so they can then run their final 1.2 (or 1) mile at a youth race in conjunction with the marathon. A sampling of marathons that offer training plans prior to a youth race, as well as additional marathons offering youth races, is also provided.

This study investigated achievement goal orientation profile differences between youth swimmers on perceived competence and enjoyment, and the contribution of goal orientation and perceived competence to enjoyment in swimming. Male and female swimmers (n=302), aged 10-18 years (M=12.7; sd=2.25) completed a questionnaire assessing goal orientation, perceived competence and enjoyment in swimming. Cluster analysis revealed four goal orientation profile groups: high task/high ego, moderate task/low ego, high task/moderate ego and low task/moderate ego. MANOVA was conducted and a significant multivariate effect was found (Wilks=0.762; F=14.370; p=0.000; ES=0126). Further, Scheffe's post-hoc comparisons tests revealed that swimmers scoring relatively high in both task and ego orientations, with a balance between the two, reported high values for perceived competence and enjoyment. Finally using two-way factorial MANOVA it was found that the interaction between the perceived competence and goal orientation profiles was not significant. Emphasizing task orientation for young athletes is a means to increase enjoyment in sport, regardless of their level of perceived competence.

Objectives: Social goal orientations, which reflect ways of conceptualizing competence in terms of social relationships with others, have been researched minimally in the physical domain. While the relationship between task and ego orientations and motivational outcomes has been well-studied, the link of friendship, group acceptance, and coach praise orientations with enjoyment, perceived physical competence, and intrinsic motivation warrants further study. Method: Male and female middle-school students (N ¼ 303) completed questionnaires assessing task, ego, coach praise, friendship, and group acceptance orientations; enjoyment; perceived physical competence; and motivation. Two approaches to data analysis (variable-centered, person-centered) examined whether social orientations were significantly related to motivational outcomes among adolescents.

Building upon Deci's and Ryan (1985) Self-determination theory as well as the sportive behavioral correlates of the model of Commitment (Scanlan et al., 1976), this study tries to establish the relationship between motivation and commitment in youth sport. For this purpose 454 young competitive soccer players answered the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) and the Sport Commitment Questionnaire (SCQ) during the regular season. The SMS measures the three dimensions of the Motivational continuum (the Amotivation, the Extrinsic Motivation and the Intrinsic Motivation). The SCQ measures the Sportive Commitment and its composing factors such as the Enjoyment, the Alternatives to the sport, and the Social Pressure. Our findings provided a clear pattern of the influence of motivation in sport enjoyment and commitment, outlining the positive contribution of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to enjoyment and commitment. Amotivation, contributes positively to alternatives to sport and negatively to enjoyment and commitment. It should be noted that extrinsic motivation has a higher contribution to enjoyment whereas intrinsic motivation has a higher contribution to commitment.

´The sportization of society´ has influenced a massive increase in sport partici-pation, especially among youths. Young people therefore represent the largest proportion of sport participants, especially in formal sports. This is largely due to the impact of the late nineteenth century ideas of sport as possessing positive developmental benefits for participants and for society as a whole. These ideas have become the general viewpoint to youth sport in most Western societies, finding their way into Icelandic society in the late twentieth century. But parallel to the increase in sport participation, the diversity of opportunities to partake in different sports in different contexts has increased extensively. The increased diversity of modern sport forms has illustrated that all sports cannot be put under one and the same label in relation to the developmental outcomes of sport participation. Some sport forms are better equipped than others to contribute to potential developmental outcomes for their participants. Research on Icelandic youth sport shows that while various positive develop-mental outcomes can be attributed to participation in formal sport in sport clubs, they do not necessarily exist in informal sport, outside sport clubs. Informal sports are more individualistic and emergent in nature and seem to lack some of the social contextual elements that reside in formal sport. There-fore, it is important to disassemble the traditional definition of sport and to differentiate between different kinds of sports forms and contexts. By doing so we can analyze the developmental outcomes of sport participation more thoroughly and accurately. Since prior research has consistently shown the benefits of formal sport parti-cipation for Icelandic youth, the focus of this paper is primarily on formal youth sport. This paper seeks to investigate participation trends in formal youth sport in Iceland, and further, to identify some of the social characteristics of parti-cipants in different forms of sport, i.e. among those who participate in formal sport in sport clubs, those who only participate in informal sport outside sport clubs, and those who do not take part in any sporting activity. This paper further analyzes whether social stratifications exist in regards to participation in youth sport. The study is built on extensive questionnaire data on the population of Icelandic youth from 1992 to 2014. The findings show that adolescents’ sport participation has increased con-siderably in formal sport in this period. More adolescents take part in formal sport, and they practice more. In fact, the percentage of those who partake four times a week or more has increased twofold for boys and almost threefold for girls in this period. Boys are more likely to participate than girls, although the gender gap is slowly diminishing. Participation rates in formal sport are highest among seventh grade children and steadily decrease from that point, although participation rates increase in informal sport outside sport clubs from that point on. Those adolescents who stop participating in formal sport do not become physically inactive but seem to shift to informal sport The findings further show that various social characteristics affect the sport participation of adolescents. Participation in formal sport decreases with age, while the relationship is reversed for informal sport, with girls being more likely to partake in informal sport than boys. The findings further show, as the logistic regression revealed, that social stratification factors like parents’ edu-cation and family income did not show a siginificant relationship with sport participation. On the other hand, factors like living with both parents, having parental encouragement for sport, and being in a close relationship with friends interested in sport, all showed a positive relationship with participation insport. The relationship is by far strongest for parental encouragement, where those who receive encouragement for sport participation from their parents are over three times more likely to participate in formal sport, and almost twice as likely to participate in informal sport, than those who do not receive such encouragement. The findings further suggest that there are benefits to partici-pation in formal sport for adolescents’ positive development. This paper is by no means a comprehensive analysis of the social character-istics of youth sport participation in Iceland. Rather, it illustrates the impor-tance for further analysis to differentiate between different sport forms and different sports in order to shed further light on the positive developmental outcomes of sport participation for adolescents. Such research is of extreme importance, especially if social stratification factors prevent some adolescents from participating in a supportive and educational sporting environment, such as within formal youth sport.

Adolescent withdrawal from sport and physical activity continues to be an alarming problem with numerous physical, social, and psychological health implications. Previous approaches to the problem largely have examined external factors related to sport, and placed blame on adolescents for not adhering to the existing sport system and its norms and values. It is possible, however, that the existing sport offerings are also problematic for adolescents, contributing to their withdrawal. This review examines the adolescent development process and relates it to choices that adolescents make particularly about their sport participation, but also with regard to their physical activity participation as a whole. It is clear from this review that adolescents are in need of innovative sport programming that will provide exploration, flexibility, and fluidity. Such innovation will require interaction and input from adolescents themselves and those who interact with them on a daily basis. Suggestions for novel approaches are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to (a) describe peer relationship profi les of youth sport participants and (b) assess the motivational salience of these profi les by examining profi le group differences on sport motivation-related variables. Youth sport camp participants (N = 243) ages 10 to 14 years (M = 11.8, SD = 1.2) completed a multisection questionnaire that contained sport-contextualized measures of perceived friendship quality (positive, confl ict), perceived peer acceptance, perceived competence, enjoyment, anxiety, self-presentational concerns, and selfdetermined motivation. The positive friendship quality, friendship confl ict, and peer acceptance responses were cluster-analyzed, yielding fi ve peer relationship profi les that were consistent with expectations based on previous research (i.e., . Profi le differences were obtained for all motivation-related variables and were in theoretically consistent directions. Those young athletes categorized in more adaptive peer relationship profi les had more adaptive motivation-related responses. The fi ndings support theoretical perspectives on social relationships and motivation as well as the effi cacy of a person-centered approach to the examination of peer relationships in sport.

The aims of this study were twofold: (a) to determine if dispositional achievement goal orientation profiles that are reported in the literature would be observed in a sample of youth athletes, and (b) to examine potential achievement goal orientation profile differences on perceptions of the motivational climate, perceptions of peer relationships, and motivation-related responses. Male soccer players (n ¼ 223) aged 9 -12 years (mean ¼ 10.9, s ¼ 0.6) completed a multi-section questionnaire containing assessments of dispositional goal (task, ego) orientations, the perceived task-and ego-involving features of the motivational climate, perceived peer acceptance and friendship quality (positive friendship quality, conflict), perceived ability, soccer enjoyment, and satisfaction with one's performance and the team. Four profiles were observed that closely matched those observed by , though in the present study a lower proportion of participants exhibited achievement goal profiles consisting of relatively high ego orientation. Achievement goal profile differences were found for all variables except positive friendship quality, with a general trend for those reporting relatively lower task goal orientation to exhibit less adaptive responses. Overall, the findings support achievement goal frameworks (e.g. and suggest that further examination of dispositional achievement goals may afford a deeper understanding of social relationships and motivational processes in youth sport.