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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Researchers have examined youth sport coaches’ role in facilitating positive youth
development (PYD). This past research demonstrates that when coaches use an intentional
approach to development, they can play an important part in helping young people to reach
adulthood with the necessary competencies to face the social challenges ahead. However,
studies within the area of PYD through sport have predominantly emanated from Englishspeaking
countries and there remains a need to better understand coaches’ views on PYD
within different countries’ sport systems. The purpose of this study was to examine
Portuguese coaches’ perspectives on their role in facilitating PYD in youth field hockey.
The participants were 11 youth field hockey coaches (2 females and 9 males) who coached
athletes between 6 and 18 years of age. Findings showed how the coaches believed PYD
could be fostered as they discussed several PYD-related concepts (e.g. life skills) they
deemed were being developed in field hockey. However, creating enjoyable environments
and talking about life skills with players were the only explicit initiatives discussed by the
coaches with the intent of fostering PYD. Coach education was perceived by half the
sample as an important learning situation to gain competencies to facilitate PYD, while the
other half emphasised that coach education courses were lacking in material associated with
this topic. Those who saw value in coach education presented a narrow view of PYD as
being solely associated with the psychological aspects of coaching. Moving forward, coach
education courses should first be designed to have coaches understand the full spectrum of
the concept of PYD and be framed as suitable learning environments where coaches can
learn how to foster PYD.
Description
Keywords
Positive youth development Youth coaches Field hockey Life skills
Citation
Publisher
Taylor & Francis