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While there are significant benefits to be gleaned from the delivery of sport psychology services to youth athletes, there does not appear to be a sport psychology consulting model that adequately addresses the unique needs and organizational structure of a youth sport population. The authors have both integrated and extended the current paucity of literature in an attempt to provide sport psychology practitioners with an inclusive youth sport consulting model. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to introduce the Youth Sport Consulting Model (YSCM) which serves as an educational framework for guiding and supporting sport psychology practitioners in the implementation and delivery of sport psychology services for young athletes and their sport organizations.

Youth sport is unique because it involves communication, coordination, and maintenance of relationships among multiple adults, all of whom are vested stakeholders in a child-athlete’s sport experience. This dynamic becomes even more complex when a sport psychology practitioner is added; therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide guidelines and considerations to assist sport psychology practitioners in managing the triangulation of adults who are involved in the consultation process with youth athletes. We first discuss specific dyads and considerations for the practitioner and then highlight recommendations for practitioners regarding transparency and confidentiality issues specific to youth athletes.

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Working with youth athletes requires knowledge of the inherent variability in child and adolescent development that will impact the implementation of a mental training program. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of developmental considerations that should be noted when doing mental training, particularly for athletes participating in sport at mid-childhood, early adolescence, and mid-adolescence. Gender differences at these stages of development are also highlighted. Additionally, we forward best practice recommendations and learning-activities that have been tailored for each developmental stage that can be used in the provision of a mental training program in a team setting.