Fun is the primary determinant of youth athletes’ continued sport participation thus, from early childhood through adolescence, positive and fun sport experiences are among the chief needs for youth athletes. Today, youth athletes have more organised, sport-based physical activity options available to them than ever before, ranging from recreational to highly select travel teams and Olympic-development programs.
Recreational programs are generally lower-cost for families, emphasising inclusive participation among all players. Conversely, competitive travel and Olympic-development programs typically necessitate that players try out and be selected in order to train and play, and include more intense skill development and competition, thus requiring families invest greater time and financial resources in their children’s sport development.
In this latest work from Amanda Visek and Heather Mannix they dig deeper into their original work looking at gender, age and level of play to see if there are any specific differences in responses across these different groups from the original study.
To read the research paper please click here.
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