In sports, people can learn skills and attitudes that help them do better in sports and in other parts of life, like school and relationships (Sackett, 2019). These skills learned through sport can be physical, mental, emotional, and social (Sackett, 2019). Sports are good for this kind of learning because they motivate people to try harder and they provide opportunities to practice important skills, like working with others and staying focused (Fredricks & Eccles, 2005). However just participating in a sport isn’t enough to make people better overall. It depends on things like the athlete’s starting skills and attitude, the coach’s style, and the team’s culture (Gould & Carson, 2008). Specifically, coaches who care about their athletes and who take an active approach in cultivating life skills and a positive team culture can help players learn and grow (Carson & Gano-Overway, 2007). Regarding the impact of positive development some researchers (e.g., Bean & Fornis, 2016) argue that learning in sports should be directly connected to other parts of life, while others like Turnnidge et al. (2014) think that it development is always occurring through sport but that it just may not be always be clear the exact transfer that is having to life outside of sports.
Bean, C. N., & Forneris, T. (2016). Examining the importance of intentionally structuring the youth sport context to facilitate psychosocial development. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28, 410425.
Fredricks, J. A., & Eccles, J. S. (2005). Developmental bene- fits of extracurricular involvement: Do peer characteristics mediate the link between activities and youth outcomes? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34, 507520.
Carson Sackett, S., & Gano-Overway, L. A. (2017). Coaching life skills development: Best practices and high school tennis coach exemplar. International Sport Coaching Journal, 4, 206219.
Gould, D., & Carson, S. (2008). Life skills development through sport: Current status and future directions. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1, 5878.
Turnnidge, J., Côte ́, J., & Hancock, D. J. (2014). Positive youth development from sport to life: Explicit or implicit transfer? Quest, 66, 203217.
Sackett, S. C. (2019). In D. Hackfort, R. J. Schinke, & B. Strauss (Eds.), Dictionary of sport psychology: Sport, exercise, and performing arts. Academic Press.
