Connecting to the Larger Community as a Strategy to Promote Positive Youth Development Through Sport: An Examination of Coaches’ Practices and PerceptionsByJeffrey C. Dugan The extent to which young athletes’ benefit from sport participation depends on numerous factors including the coach, the environment, and different individuals who are involved in the sport experience. More broadly, sport is one context for development, with family, school and youth programs among the many influential contexts and relationships. The current study considers the manner in which coaches interact with the adults in the different youth-supporting contexts as one factor within the sport environment that impacts the development of youth sport participants. Ten current youth sport coaches were interviewed for the purpose of learning how they connect with the other adults surrounding their athletes, along with their thoughts and attitudes towards those connections with other adults. Five specific questions are addressed pertaining to the construct of connection: (1) With which contexts do coaches most often connect?; (2) What factors facilitate these connections?; (3) What factors inhibit these connections?; (4) What are coach’s attitudes and perceptions towards such connections?; and (5) What are the specific ways coaches are fostering connections with their athletes’ families, schools and community adults? Content analysis results indicated that youth sport coaches interact with the adults in different contexts, and generally find such interactions valuable. The demands on everyone’s time require coaches to be particular in choosing the people and reasons to connect. Contextual factors and perspectives of the individual coaches influence the exact nature of connection for each coach interviewed.
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