Challenges and Solutions to Supporting Physical Literacy within Youth Sport

TL;DR

The paper discusses how youth sports can help develop physical literacy while addressing challenges like recruitment, retention, and talent development.

Contribution

The paper introduces a comprehensive framework of challenges and practical solutions for promoting physical literacy in youth sports.

Findings

Youth sports face challenges in attracting participants due to socioeconomic factors and competing entertainment.

Retention in sports can be improved through better design and delivery of training and competition.

A structured talent pathway is essential to support youth athletes' physical literacy journey.

Abstract

There are current global concerns surrounding the lifestyle behaviours and future health and well-being of youth. One concept that has gained traction to address these concerns is physical literacy (PL). Organised youth sport is one context that can promote PL, offering multiple benefits coupled with a range of challenges. This Leading Article aims to provide a balanced overview of the key challenges associated with supporting PL within youth sport and offers solutions to overcome these challenges. The first challenge focuses upon attracting youth (and parents) to sport through increasing recruitment against social constraints (e.g., socioeconomic), popular entertainment (e.g., streaming) and family issues (e.g., scheduling). The second centres on retaining children in sport to maximise participation through the appropriate design, organisation and delivery of training and competition opportunities. The final challenge relates to the talent pathway and how sports can structure (e.g., [de]selection) and deliver (e.g., training intensification) a pathway to ensure that all youth athletes flourish along their PL journey. Our solutions focus on organisations (e.g., national governing bodies, clubs) understanding and considering, (1) PL as an individual’s relationship with movement and physical activity throughout life, (2) children’s rights (e.g., interests, opportunities, expression of views), and (3) sport policies and practices when designing and delivering sport experiences. Whilst these challenges and solutions are wide ranging and complex, our belief is that the adoption of a PL approach by stakeholders when designing, delivering and enacting sport programs can enhance the experiences of youth involved in sport and ultimately support their lifelong PL journey.

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