The health, fitness and other advantages of youth sports participation are well recognised. However, there are considerable challenges for all stakeholders involvedespecially youth athletes-in trying to maintain inclusive, sustainable and enjoyable participation and success for all levels of individual athletic achievement. In an effort to advance a more unified, evidence-informed approach to youth athlete development, the IOC critically evaluated the current state of science and practice of youth athlete development and presented recommendations for developing healthy, resilient and capable youth athletes, while providing opportunities for all levels of sport participation and success. The IOC further challenges all youth and other sport governing bodies to embrace and implement these recommended guiding principles.

The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth account of amotivation in compulsory school physical education by examining its major causes, the way it is displayed, and how it can be tackled. From an initial participant pool of 390 British schoolchildren ages 14 to 15 years, 21 of them (15 girls and 6 boys) were selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. They were categorized as being amotivated based on their responses to a questionnaire measuring motivation in physical education. Three main perceived causes of amotivation were identified in the interviews: learned helplessness beliefs, low need satisfaction, and contextual factors. Amotivation was mainly displayed by nonattendance, low involvement in the class, and low intention to be physically active after leaving school. Students' suggestions for reducing amotivation focused on the enhancement of positive affect, need satisfaction, and structural/organizational changes. The findings are discussed in conjunction with contemporary motivation theories and models of amotivation.

Recent research investigating the effect of the motivational climate has found that even elite athletes benefit from a mastery climate. The purpose of the present study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the importance of the climate surrounding an athlete and the role of the coach for elite athletes by conducting in-depth interviews with a group of athletes (n=7). The athletes also completed the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ) and Perception of Motivational Climate Questionnaire (PMCQ) to measure motivational indices. All the athletes were very high on task orientation and moderate to high on ego orientation. Most of the athletes perceived a high mastery climate and a low performance climate. The athletes emphasized the importance of the coach as the creator of the climate, as well as their preference for a supportive and caring climate. This speaks for an emphasis on a mastery climate for elite athletes.

The quality of internal communication within a team was correlated with injury rates, training attendance and match availability.

A 1-yr intervention program can prevent new cases of ED and symptoms associated with ED in adolescent female elite athletes.