Coaching youth athletes

Sport settings have long been viewed as environments that can foster youth athletes' positive psychological development. Consequently, sport coaches are increasingly called upon to create environments that nurture this development. The purpose of this chapter is to provide insight into some of the most influential conceptual and empirical research findings that help guide coaching practices in building learning environments that are structured to meet the needs and desires of youth athletes. This will be accomplished by reviewing four popular and empirically tested coaching frameworks: Mastery Approach to Coaching, Positive Youth Development in Sport, Life Skills Development Model, and Humanistic Coaching. Insights gained from these frameworks informed our recommendations for creating ideal youth sport environments: promote learning and development over winning, create a supportive environment, intentionally plan and promote the development of positive developmental outcomes (PDO), facilitate opportunities to practice PDO, promote and facilitate the transfer of PDO, and consider athletes' individual differences and wider social environment. Given the worldwide movement towards appropriate developmental opportunities for children and youth, this chapter offers helpful recommendations for coaches and other important stakeholders involved in children's development.