Research Findings on Social Benefits of Youth Sport * Playing informal, player controlled sports provides young people with opportunities to organize group activities, resolve interpersonal conflicts, solve problems, and sustain the consensus and cooperative relationships required to play competitive games (Martinek & Hellison, 1997). * Playing organized, adult controlled sports provides young people with opportunities to participate in relationships with adult authority figures and engage in rule-governed teamwork in the pursuit of a shared goal. * Youth sports expand a young person’s social network when they are organized to facilitate meaningful interaction with teammates and opponents. * Young people are less likely to engage in violence off the field when they participate in sport programs that teach a philosophy of nonviolence, respect for self and others, the importance of fitness and self-control, confidence in physical skills, and a sense of responsibility to self and others. * When young people participate in local, community-sponsored youth sport, they are more likely to become engaged in civic activities as adults. * Youth sport provides opportunities to meet adults who may become helpful mentors and advocates in a young person’s life. * Youth sport increases social awareness and sensitivity when young people have opportunities to play with peers from different social and cultural backgrounds and different levels of physical ability.
