Exploring the life skills needs of British adolescent athletes

Abstract

Objectives Youth sport programs have been designed to facilitate positive development of young people by teaching life skills. It is unclear which life skills are needed by adolescents and which life skills should be included in youth sport programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore how life skills are defined, which life skills British adolescent athletes need, and which life skills are the most important. Method Nineteen adolescent athletes, ten coaches, four experts in sport psychology (pilot group) and five graduate students (pilot group) participated in a series of focus groups. An inductive analysis revealed how life skills are defined, which life skills British adolescent athletes need, and of these skills which are the most important. Results Life skills were defined as ranges of transferable skills needed for everyday life, by everybody, that help people thrive. Participants described the need for interpersonal skills including social skills, respect, leadership, family interactions, and communication. Personal skills including organization, discipline, self-reliance, goal setting, managing performance outcomes, and motivation, were also reported. Social skills were identified as the most important life skills. Conclusions In conclusion, findings add support to existing positive youth development research while adding an alternative insight into which life skills should be built into youth sport programs.

The +Contigo Project in the Voice of Eight-Grade Students

“…We describe the categories below, illustrating them with some units of context. These results are in line with those of authors who emphasize the positive development of interpersonal relationships as one of the consequences of social skills training (Coplan, Schneider, Matheson & Graham, 2010;Harrell, Mercer & DeRosier, 2009;Jones & Lavallee, 2009 As a self-concept component, self-esteem is a dimension that is positively associated with assertive communication. The greater the self-respect, self-appreciation and self-affection, the easier is the relationship with the others, i.e.…”

Developing Communication and Organization Skills: The ELITE Life Skills Reflective Practice Intervention

“…We created items based on an extensive review of life skills and positive youth development literature (e.g., Hansen & Larson, 2005;Jones & Lavallee, 2009). We structured the items with the stem "Based on your involvement in sport please rate whether you have had the following experiences.…”

“…We based the decision to target communication and organization on a series of focus groups to understand which life skills British young people need (e.g., Jones & Lavallee, 2009). As such, the current version of the ELITE intervention may not be specific to the needs of all young people.…”

The social environment and developmental experiences in elite youth soccer

“…To complement these 87 two intrapersonal skills, we also wanted to tap into interpersonal and social experiences. Thus 88 we explored adolescents' opportunities to demonstrate leadership and responsibility because 89 young athletes and coaches perceived this to be an important life skill that can be developed 90 through sport (Jones & Lavallee, 2009). Finally, given that feelings of isolation within one's 91 peer group have been highlighted as a predictor of poor psychological health among children 92 (e.g., van The primary objective of the present study was to provide practitioners and 96 researchers with potential ways to optimize young elite soccer players' experiences of goal 97 setting, leadership opportunities, and emotional regulation, while minimizing social 98 exclusion.…”