The Power Of Groups In Youth Sport

Focused on understanding the key underlying group processes that contribute to youth sport experiences, The Power of Groups in Youth Sport provides an innovative and expansive overview of the research in group dynamics within youth sports. The first section of the book examines topics relating to forming and structuring groups, including team selection, athlete socialization, normative expectations, roles, coach and athlete leadership, social identity, and more. The second section reviews concepts associated with group functioning and management, such as cohesion, subgroups, motivational climate, teamwork, and team building. This book concludes with a series of chapters focused on specific developmental considerations in youth sports that are often overlooked in group dynamics research including parental involvement, bullying and hazing, mental health, ,and disability and accessibility. Synthesizes the research of group dynamics within the context of youth sport Highlights how groups form and function Discusses the role of parents and peers on youth sport experiences and development Suggests ways to advance the field of group dynamics in youth sports

Soccer remains the world’s most popular sport with significant numbers of the world’s population engaged in grassroots soccer, particularly during childhood and adolescence. There is considerable scientific and practical data focused on soccer science available, most of which relates to elite performers and does not address the needs to grassroots coaches in understanding the science of soccer and translating this into practical messages and learning to help coaches maximise the experiences, enjoyment and development of the more than 250 million players who play grassroots soccer worldwide. Science and Practice of Youth Soccer presents a comprehensive and accessible introduction to key topics relating to effective player and team development in youth grassroots soccer. Written by international experts and practitioners in the field and with a particular emphasis on the development of children and youth, the book provides essential guidance of how science translates into practice for coaches and those working in youth grassroots soccer. Each chapter outlines the scientific research base for each topic, highlights myths and misconceptions that are commonplace in current practice of grassroots coaches and then provides practical solutions that coaches can take and use in their coaching practice. This book is key reading to those working in or studying sport and exercise science, sports coaching and sports development and also of interest to grassroots coaches and parents of soccer players.

Cutting through the political rhetoric about the power of sport as a tool for social change and personal improvement, this book offers insight into how and why participating in sport can be good for children and young people. Still the only book to focus on the role of sport in positive youth development (PYD), it brings together high-profile contributors from diverse disciplines to critically examine the ways in which sport can be used to promote youth development. Now in a fully updated, revised, and expanded third edition, Positive Youth Development through Sport covers a wider range of disciplines including sport psychology, development psychology, physical education, sport development, and sport sociology. With every chapter asking why, what, so what, and what next, the book introduces the theoretical basis and historical context of PYD, quantitative and qualitative methods for assessing PYD in sport, and the potential of PYD in sport across different ages and abilities. This edition includes brand-new chapters on PYD in schools, in Indigenous populations, and across the lifespan, as well as new material on evaluating PYD programs and new case studies of PYD around the world. This is invaluable reading for all students, researchers, educators, practitioners, programmers, and policy makers with an interest in youth sport.

Talent development pathways in youth soccer provide opportunities for young players to realise their potential. Such programmes have become increasingly popular throughout governing bodies, professional clubs, and independent organisations. This has coincided with a rapid rise in sport science literature focused specifically on optimising player development towards expertise. However, the decreasing age of recruitment, biases in selection, inconsistencies in the language used, underrepresented populations, and large dropout rates from pathways have magnified the potential flaws of existing organisational structures and settings. Moreover, despite both the professionalisation of talent development pathways and growing research attention, we still know little about the characteristics that facilitate accurate recruitment strategies into pathways and long-term development outcomes. Talent Identification and Development in Youth Soccer provides an all-encompassing guide for both researchers and practitioners by gathering the existing literature to help better understand the current context of this discipline. Chapters are contributed by a team of leading and emerging international experts, examining topics such as technical, tactical, physical, psychological, social, activities and trajectories, career transitions, relative age effects, creativity, and genetics, with each chapter offering important considerations for both researchers and practitioners. With a dual emphasis on both theory and practice, this book is an important text for any student, researcher, coach, or practitioner with an interest in talent identification, talent development, youth soccer, soccer coaching, or expertise and skill acquisition.

Identifying and developing talented athletes to their fullest potential is a central concern of sports scientists, sports coaches, and sports policymakers. However, there is very little practical and theoretical knowledge for those working in Paralympic sport. The book collates the state of the science of current knowledge and practice in talent identification and development in this context by capturing international perspectives of current systems and processes. Written by a team of leading international experts, Talent Development in Paralympic Sport: Researcher and Practitioner Perspectives explores key factors and issues in contemporary sport, including: • current state of pathways in Paralympic sports across the globe • designing optimal developmental environments • long-term modeling of Paralympic athlete development • understanding the complexity of talent selection in Paralympic sport With an emphasis on practical implications for all those working in sport, the book offers an authoritative evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary systems for identifying and developing talent in Paralympic sport. This is important reading for any student, researcher, practitioner, or coach with an interest in skill acquisition, youth Para sport, elite Paralympic sport, Paralympic sports coaching, Paralympic sports development, sport psychology, skill development, or sports engineering. In addition, there has been interest from universities to offer courses/modules specific to Paralympic sports.

Have you ever watched sport on TV and wondered how athletes like LeBron James, Serena Williams, Lionel Messi, Simone Biles, and Virat Kohli are able to perform so well in front of thousands of people? Just the thought of it is enough to make most people throw up and pass out! For over 100 years, sport psychologists (scientists interested in how the brain influences sport performance) have been studying athletes and teams in order to understand more about the psychology behind successful sport performance. These scientific studies have uncovered some fascinating insights regarding what it takes to become an elite athlete and perform at the highest level. In this collection, we will reveal some of the secrets that sport psychologists have uncovered in relation to sport performance. Specifically, we will highlight what has been learnt from research which has explored elite athletes’ background, their personalities, what motivates them, how they are able to maintain their concentration, where they get their confidence from, and how they are able to cope under pressure. The collection will help children and young athletes understand how the way they think and feel in different situations influences their performances, and how those in their surrounding environment (e.g., coaches, parents, friends, and teammates) can influence their performances and long-term development. These insights are not only exciting, they start to highlight how young athletes can play a crucial role in enhancing their own performances both within and outside of sport (e.g., school, music, performing arts, and dance).

The Routledge Handbook of Coaching Children in Sport provides a comprehensive and extensive range of critical reflections of key areas impacting on children’s sport and coaching up to the age of 16. With coaching related chapters authored by academic across various disciplines, including nutrition, psychology, pedagogy, medicine, youth development and sociology, the text provides detailed reviews of the existing state of research and consideration of the implications of these particular factors upon parents, coaches, administrators and clearly the young people themselves as well as recommendations for future research. This new volume provides in-depth investigation to key topics of coaching topics such as Learning and Child Development, Protecting Young Athletes, Talent Identification and Development and Inclusive Coaching and finally introduce a broad array of contextual considerations for coaches from considering professional learning through to coaching in particular contexts. This book is more than simply an academic text and it offers insights that will further inform practice in children’s sport coaching. The handbook is relevant for students (UG, PG), researchers, academics, parents, coaches and administrators, as well as those interested in children’s sport coaching and the related topics therein. Martin Toms, PhD is a senior lecturer (associate professor) in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham, UK. A former professional sports coach with an MPhil and PhD exploring the sociological issues of young people in junior sport, Martin has been heavily involved in juniors sport all of his adult life. He has published widely and presented extensively around the world on youth sport, including working on international projects and for NBGs/Federations and National Governmental organisations. He has gained European and SCUK funding for youth and coaching related projects as well as being involved in international consultancy. He is a co-editor of the European Journal for Sport and Society as well as the current Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Golf Science. Ruth Jeanes, PhD is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Australia. Ruth’s research examines inclusion and exclusion within youth sport, particularly examining how sport can be used to achieve broader social policy objectives targeted at young people. Within this, she is particularly interested in the role of coaches in facilitating broader social outcomes for young people. Ruth has published extensively in these areas with over 100 publications across journal articles, book chapters and books. She is widely cited and has been successful in securing extensive funding for her research including two highly competitive Australian Research Council grants.

The most up-to-date edition of a leading resource on the research and theory of the social development of children In the newly revised Third Edition of The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development, a team of eminent researchers delivers a current and comprehensive discussion of the research and theory of childhood social development. With chapters written by an international collection of leaders in their respective fields, this edited volume offers robust coverage of a range of disciplinary perspectives, including psychological, sociological, anthropolgical, evolutionary, religious, cultural, ecological, athletic, and more The latest edition offers brand-new chapters on helping children with autism, the impact of social networking platforms on childhood social development, the influence of mass media, war and famine, the climate crisis, and the influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Containing authoritative explorations of child social development from pre-school to the onset of adolescence, The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development also provides: A thorough introduction to historical perspectives on the social development of children, including the conceptual and empirical precursors of contemporary social development research Comprehensive explorations of various disciplinary perspectives, including behavioral genetics, the brain and social development in childhood, and evolutionary perspectives on social development Practical discussions of the ecological contexts of childhood social development, including the relationship between the physical environment and social development In-depth examinations of culture and immigration, including the social development of immigrant children with a focus on Europe, and on Asian and Latinx children in the US. Perfect for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of courses in child psychology, human development, or educational psychology, The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development will also earn a place in the libraries of researchers seeking a one-stop, comprehensive resource for the social development of children.