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CANADIANJOURNALOFEDUCATION31,2(2008):281304
DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLSTHROUGHTHEIRINVOLVEMENTINHIGHSCHOOL
SPORT?ACASESTUDY
NicholasL.Holt&LisaN.TinkUniversityofAlberta
JamesL.MandigoBrockUniversity
KennethR.Fox
UniversityofBristol
In thisstudyweexaminedwhetherandhowyouth learned lifeskills
through theirinvolvement on a high school soccer team.We collected
data from fieldwork
andinterviewswith12malestudentathletesandtheheadcoachfromoneteam.Resultsshowed
that the coachsphilosophy involved building relationships and
involvingstudentathletes indecisionmaking. Issues relating to three
life skills (initiative, respect,and teamwork/leadership)were
identified.Althoughweobserved littledirectteachingof these life
skills,we saw thatplayersgenerallywereproducers of
theirownexperiencesthatsupportedthedevelopmentoftheseskills.Keywords:ecologicalsystems,positivedevelopment
Les auteurs ont cherch savoir si et comment les jeunes acquirent
certainescomptences de la vie courante en tant membres dune quipe
de soccer ausecondaire. Les chercheurs ont colligdesdonnes sur le
terrain et interview 12lvesathltesde sexemasculin ainsique
lentraneurprincipaldune quipe. Lesrsultats indiquent que lentraneur
avait pour philosophie de favoriserltablissement de relations et
dimpliquer les lvesathltes dans les prises
dedcision.Desproblmesrelistroiscomptencesdelaviecourante(linitiative,lerespectetlespritdquipe/leleadership)onttidentifis.Bienquelesauteursaientobservquecescomptencessontpeuenseignescommetelles,ilsontconstatque
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282 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
observquecescomptencessontpeuenseignescommetelles,
ilsontconstatqueles joueurs taient les producteurs de leurs propres
expriences, qui
favorisaienteffectivementledveloppementdecescomptences.Motscls:systmescologiques,dveloppementpositif
_____________________TheWorldHealthOrganization
(1999)hassuggested that lifeskillsareimportant for healthy
development and preparing adolescents for
thefuture.Sportpsychologistshaveargued that lifeskillscanbe taught
incombination with athletic skills in sport contexts (Danish &
Nellen,1997). From thisperspective, life skillshave beendefined as
the skillsthatarerequired todealwith
thedemandsandchallengesofeverydaylife (Hodge & Danish, 1999).
They can be physical, behavioural, orcognitive,andmaybe
transferable toother lifedomains (Papacharisis,Goudas, Danish,
& Theodorakis, 2005). Furthermore, sport is
beingviewedonagloballevelasavehicleforpromotinghealthydevelopment(SportforDevelopmentandPeaceInternationalWorkingGroup,2006).
Sportbased life skills programs have gathered momentum in
theUSAsince themid1990s
(e.g.,Danish,Nellen,&Owens,1996;Danish,Petitpas,&Hale,1995).Danish(2002)createdtheSportsUnitedtoPromoteEducationandRecreation
(SUPER)program,a sportbased intervention intended to teach youth
life skills.Workshops are taught
likesportclinicsandincludesportspecificskillsaswellasmoregenerallifeskills.AlthoughtherehasbeenlittleevaluationoftheeffectivenessoftheSUPER
program, recently Papacharisis et al. (2005) used a
quasiexperimental design to evaluate a modified version of SUPER
withGreekchildren.Childrenwhoreceivedtheinterventionreportedhighergoal
setting, problem solving, positive thinking, and sport skills
comparedtochildreninthecontrolgroup.AnotherUSsportbasedlifeskillsinterventionprogramistheTeachingPersonalandSocialResponsibility(TPSR)
model (Hellison, 2003). This model was developed to
instructteachers and coaches how to teach individual responsibility
throughsport andother typesofphysical activities.Case
studiesdepicting theemergenceofyouth leadershavebeen reported
(Martinek,Schilling,&Hellison, 2006), and the approach is
growing in popularity across theUSA,but formalevaluation
researchhasbeen limited.Similar typesof
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 283
sportbased,lifeskillsinterventionprogramshavebeendevelopedintheUSA
for golf and football (Petitpas, Cornelius, Van Raalte, &
Jones,2005),butevaluationsofadolescentslearningexperiencesthroughtheseprograms
have yet to be published. Overall then, a number of sportbased life
skillsprogramshavemainlyoriginated in theUSA,but
fewevaluationsoftheefficacyandeffectivenessoftheseprogramshavebeenpublished.Thus,
there is aneed for further examinationsofwhat
andhowyouthmightlearnthroughsport(Holt&Jones,2007).
Danish, Forneris, and Wallace (2005) suggested that
highschoolsport may be an appropriate context for teaching youth
life skills
inadditiontoathleticskillswhilesimultaneouslycontributingtotheeducationalmissionofschools.SupportiveevidencefromstudiesofUSyouthhave
revealedassociationsbetweenhighschoolsportparticipationandhigher
academic performance, greater likelihood of attending
college,andgreaterautonomyandsatisfactioninonesfirstjob(Barber,Eccles,&Stone,2001),alongwithhigherlevelsofselfknowledge,emotionalregulation,problemsolving,goalattainment,
teamwork,andskilldevelopment
(Hansen,Larson,&Dworkin,2003;Marsh&Kleitman,2003).Ontheotherhand,researchershavealsoassociatednegativeoutcomeswithsportparticipation,
including increaseduseofalcohol(Eccles&Barber,1999, Eccles,
Barber, Stone, & Hunt, 2003), use of smokeless
tobacco(Melnick,Miller,Sabo,Farrell,&Barnes,2001),andadultsmodelinginappropriatebehaviours
(Hansen et al., 2003).Furthermore,
ithasbeensuggestedthatsocializationprocessesinsportmaylegitimizeaggressiveaction
(Shields & Bredemeier, 1995). Researchers have questioned
thepopularviewthatsportbuildscharacter(e.g.,Fullinwider,2006;Miracle&RogerRees,
1994). Based on a recent review of this
literature,Morris,Sallybanks, and Willis (2003) concluded that
there is a lack of robustevidenceforthedirect,sustained
impactofsportparticipationonpositivedevelopmentaloutcomes.
To summarize,whereas there is some evidence linking sport
participationwithpositiveoutcomes,researchershavealsoshownthatsportcanproducenegativeoutcomes.
Inseeking toadvance the literature inthisarea,researchershavecalled
formore investigations thatgo
insidesportcontextstoestablishwhether,what,andhowyouthlearn(Holt&Jones,2007).Mahoney,Eccles,andLarson
(2004)argued that thestruc
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284 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
tureandcontextoftheactivitywere important
indeterminingwhetherparticipation led to positive or negative
outcomes. Furthermore, in adiscussion of research on youth
involvement in afterschool activities,developmental psychologists
(Larson et al., 2004) suggested that researchers must assess what
goes on within programs; what youthexperience, how development
occurs, or what effective youth
practitionersdotosupportdevelopment(p.541).Similarly,withreferencetolife
skills and school sport, sport psychologists (Danish et al.,
2005)suggestedthatresearchersmustestablishwhatsportcanteach,howitcanbetaught,andwhereitbestcanbetaught(p.48).Followingthesesuggestions,thepurposeofthisstudywastoexaminewhetherandhowyouth
learned life skills through their involvement on a high
schoolsoccerteam.
CONCEPTUALCONTEXT
We approached this study from an ecological systems
perspective(Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 2001,
2005;Bronfenbrener&Morris, 1998).Thetheory is based on four
main concepts and dynamic relationshipsbetween theconcepts
(thepersonprocesscontexttimemodel):
individualcharacteristics,proximalprocess,contextualvariables,and
the
temporallyevolvingnatureofrelationsbetweenpeopleanddifferentlevelsof
their environment. People interact with several different levels
ofhumanecologicalsystems,rangingfrommoreproximalmicrosystemstomoredistalmacrosystems.Inthepresentstudy,wepursuedan
indepthexaminationof themicrosystemof ayouth soccer team
tounderstandwhether and how youth learned life skills.
Microsystems, the mostproximalhuman ecological system, are
considered tobe thepatternedactivities, roles, and interpersonal
relations a person experiences in asetting (Bronfenbrenner &
Morris, 1998). A youth sport team can beregarded as a microsystem
(Garca Bengoechea, 2002). Behaviours inmicrosystemsarealso
indirectly influencedbymoredistal
levelsofhumanecology,suchasmacrosystemsofpublicpolicy,governments,andeconomicsystems.Thus,inadditiontospecificallyexaminingthemicrosystem
of a youth sport team,wewere also interested in
somemoredistalpolicyinfluences.
Althoughitwasbeyondthescopeofthepresentarticletoreviewthe
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 285
historyofthediscipline,ecologicalsystemstheoryrepresentsanimportantcornerstoneofmoderndevelopmentalscience(Lerner,2005).Indeed,modern
conceptualizations of Positive Youth Development (PYD)
arehistoricallygrounded
inanecologicalsystemsperspective.Briefly,proponents of PYD view
adolescents as having the potential for positivedevelopmental
change, regarding youth as resources to be
developedratherthanproblemstobesolved(e.g.,Lerner,2005).Thus,researcherscan
examine how people engage in various contexts to gain a
betterunderstandingofhow
topromotepositivedevelopment.Twomodernconceptions
includeLernerandcolleagues (2005)5CsofPYD (competence, confidence,
connection, character, and caring/compassion),
andLarsonandcolleagues(Dworkin,Larson,&Hansen,2003;Hansenetal.,2003)
domains of learning experiences that may be associated
withPYD.Thesedomains relate to exploration and
identitywork,development of initiative, emotional selfregulation,
developing peer relationships andknowledge, teamwork and social
skills, and acquiring adultnetworks and social capital. In
designing the present study, we
wereopentothepossibilitythatsomeofthe5Csordomainsoflearningmayrepresent
the types of developmental experiences and/or life
skillsreportedbytheadolescentswestudied.
METHOD
ContextandParticipants
Wepurposefullysampledaschoolwithagood reputation
forathleticsandacoachwhowasregardedasaneffectiveyouthleader.MetroHigh(a
pseudonym) was located in a Canadian city of approximately
1millionresidents.Cateringtogrades10to12,Metrowasa
largeschoolthatprovidedprograms for students fromdiverse ethnic
backgrounds(which are reflected by thedemographics reported
below).Datawerecollectedfrom12malestudentathletesandtheheadcoachoftheseniormenssoccerteamattheschool.Theaverageageoftheparticipantswas17.1years
(SD = 1.00), and theyhad an averageplaying experienceof11.3 years
(SD = 2.1).Mean selfreportedGPAwas 78 per cent (SD
=7.0%).Thestudentathletesselfreportedavarietyofethnic/racialbackgrounds:Caucasian(4),EastIndian(2),Slovakian(1),Italian(1),Japanese(1),Afghanistani(1),Kenyan(1),Moroccan(1).Theteamheadcoach
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286 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
(towhomweassignedthepseudonymcoach)wasa31yearoldmale.Hehad been
a fulltime teacher for four years, and held a position withMetro
High for two years. The coach had also played soccer at thehighest
amateur level andpossessed several soccer
coachingqualifications.
DataCollection
We collected data over the course of a single season,which ran
fromApril to June. The team held two practices and one game per
weekthroughout the season.Research Ethics Board approvalwas
obtained,alongwith ethical permission from the school board, the
school principal,athleticsdirector,headcoach,andallparticipants
(and theirparents/guardians),whoprovidedsignedinformedconsent.
Fieldwork. This study was based on an ethnographic
approach(Wolcott, 1994).Two researchers engaged in fieldwork.The
lead
fieldworkerwasa33yearoldCaucasianmalewhohadbeenauniversityandhigh
performance soccer player and coach. He attended trainingsessions,
occasionallyhelped the coach to organizedrills (e.g.,puttingout
thepylons),andgenerallyhelpedoutwithoutspecificallycoachingtheteam.Hestoodwiththecoachduringgamesandsometimesactedasa
sounding board for the coachs ideas. The lead researcher had
noinvolvementinteamselectionanddidnotmakeanystrategicdecisions.But,whereas
the leadresearcherwasnot formallya teamcoach,
itwaslikelythathebecameviewedbythestudentathletesasafullparticipantin
the setting, andwas probably regardedmore as an assistant
coachthanaresearcherperse.
The cofieldworker was a 22 yearold Caucasian female who
hadreceived training in ethnography, observation, and interviewing.
Sheattended training sessions and games, but she had fewer direct
interactions with the studentathletes and coach than the lead
researcher.Rather, she tookabackseatandhermain role
involvedmakingnotesabout salient interactions among teammembers and
specific incidentsthat occurred, and later conducting the
interviews. Thus,whereas thelead
researcherwasmoreofaparticipantobserver (an insider) the
coresearcherwasmoreofanonparticipantobserver
(anoutsider),whichhelped tobalanceeach researchers
individualbiasesandmaintain the
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 287
type of analytic distance often associated with realist
ethnographicaccounts(Holt&Sparkes,2001).
In total the researchersattended10practicesand10gamesduringthe
season, representing approximately
60hoursofdirectobservation.Information obtained during fieldwork
included notes from directobservations, informal and formal
conversations, and documents (i.e.,national, provincial, and school
policy documents). All data wererecorded in a fieldwork log. Notes
were initially made in
notebooksimmediatelyfollowinggamesandpractices,andthecoresearchermadenotesduringgames.After
eachgameorpractice the fieldworkersdiscussed their initial
interpretations, then recorded fullernotes
(electronicallyusinglaptopcomputers)thefollowingmorning.
As Wolcott (1999) explained, the observation process
initiallyinvolvestakingabroadlookateverythingbeforetakingacloserlookatsome
things. In the present study, the process initially involved
describing all aspectsof the situation (includingdiagramsof
thephysicallayout of school, soccer fields, signs, profiles of each
player, and descriptions of team interactions) before more closely
exploring
certainissuesrelatingtothemainresearchquestions(i.e.,specificincidentsthatappearedtoberelatedtolearninglifeskills).Wefocusedonthecoachsbehavioursduringpracticesandgamesaswellas
interactionsbetweenthecoachandthestudentathletesandamongthestudentathletesthemselves.
These data were useful for identifying psychosocial
processes,interpersonal interactions, and participants behaviours
in detail overtime(Wolcott,1994).
Interviews.Thecofieldworkercompletedformal
interviewsduringatwoweek period at the end of the season. The
interviews,
lastingbetween30minutesandonehour,wereaudiorecorded.Aftercompleting
a brief demographic questionnaire, participants were read
thefollowingexplanation(basedonHodge&Danish,1999):
Wewanttoknowabout lifeskillsyou
learnedthroughsport.Lifeskillsaretheskillsthatarerequiredtodealwiththedemandsandchallengesofeverydaylife.They
can be physical (e.g., taking the right posture), behavioural
(e.g.,communicating effectively), cognitive (e.g., making effective
decisions), social(e.g., teamwork), or emotional (e.g., coping with
anxiety). The life skills
youlearnedmaybedifferenttotheexampleswehaveprovided.Therearenorightor
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288 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
wrong answers. We are interested in your own experiences.
(directions forinterviewprotocol)
They were then asked a series of questions about the life skills
theylearned through their involvement on the team (e.g., What life
skillshaveyoulearnedthroughyourinvolvementonthisteam?Howhaveyoulearnedtheseskills?Dotheseskillstransfertootherareasofyourlife?).Thesequestionsweremodifiedfortheinterviewswiththecoach.
DataAnalysis
Theoriginalinterviewertranscribedinterviewtapesverbatim,assigningeachparticipantacode(P1throughP12).DatawereanalyzedusingtheDescriptionAnalysisInterpretationapproachdescribedbyWolcott
(1994).Qualitativemethodologists (e.g.,Patton, 2002) argue that
analysisnormally involvesamixtureof inductionanddeduction,and it
isnaive
toassumethatpureinductionispossiblebecauseeverystudyisguidedbycertainconcepts.Inthepresentstudywewereneitherpurely
inductivenorpurelydeductiverather,wewereguidedbycertainprinciples(i.e.,theworkofBronfenbrenner,2005;Larson,2000;Lerneretal.,2005),butsoughttobesensitivetounanticipatedissuesthatarosefromconductingresearchinanaturallyoccurringsetting.
According to Wolcott (1994), Description addresses the
questionWhat is going on here? and itprovides the foundation for
the subsequentanalyses.Toobtaina completedescriptionof the life
skills reportedduring the interviews,weused content analysis
tounderstandthesedataaccordingtothestepsprovidedbyTesch(1990,pp.142145).Once
these themes had been identified, we created a data matrix
tosummarizethedataandfacilitatethecomparisonandfurtheranalysisofthefindings(Miles&Huberman,1994).
Analysis involves the identification of essential features and
patterned regularities in the data and the systematic explication
of interrelationships among them. Analysis involves answering the
question:How do things work in this setting? Interpretation
involves
askingquestionsaboutthemeaningandcontextofthedata.Whereasanalysisisconcernedwithspecific
featuresandexplorationof thedata
transformationprocess,interpretationishowweconstruedthetransformeddata.Thekeyquestionduringtheinterpretationwas:Whatdoesitallmean?
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 289
Trustworthiness
A typical concern in this type of research is that the
fieldworkersentrance into a subculture may influence participants
in an unanticipatedmanner(Patton,2002).Thisproblemmadeit
importantthatweconduct the research in a responsive and critically
reflective manner.Accordingly, both fieldworkers maintained
reflexive journals andregularlydebriefedwitheachother
tohelpmonitorhowourpersonalbiasesmayhavebeeninfluencingtheresearchprocess(Holt&Sparkes,2001).
The triangulation of data sources (i.e., studentathletes and
thecoachs perspectives) and data collection techniques (i.e.,
observationand interview) helped to establish the trustworthiness
of the
analysisandfindings(Patton,2002).Anongoingmembercheckingprocesswiththeheadcoachwasalsocompleted.Duringthesemembercheckingdiscussions
the lead investigatordiscussedhis interpretations
andunderstandingof thedatawith thecoach throughout thestudy
(includingatleast eight specific conversations that were recorded
in the fieldworklog). The head coach also received a full, written
copy of the results,which he discussed with the lead researcher.
These membercheckinginterviewshelpedestablish theaccuracyofour
interpretations (Lincoln&Guba,1985).
We produced a realist account of our findings (Sparkes,
2002).Accordingly, followingHolt andSparkes (2001), readers are
invited toask someof the followingquestionsofa text:
Isenoughevidencepresentedtoenablethereadertojudgetheresearchersinterpretations?Areinterpretationsmade
ina fairandbalancedmanner?Does
theaccountrepresentacoherentandmeaningfulpictureaboutparticipatingon
theteam?Do the findings of the studymeaningfully connect to
previousresearchandtheory?
RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
Framing our findings from an ecological perspective
(Bronfenbrenner,2005),webeginwithmoredistalissuesbeforediscussingmoreproximalissues.Accordingly,we
firstpresentpolicies related to
schoolathleticsonanational,provincial,andschoollevel.Wethendescribethecoachsphilosophyandsomesalientaspectsofhiscoachingapproach.Finally,wepresentdatarelatingtothreelifeskills(initiative,respect,andteam
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290 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
work),anddiscusstheextenttowhichtheseskillswerelearnedthroughsoccerandmayhavetransferredtootherlifedomains.
AthleticsPolicies
DocumentsobtainedduringfieldworkrevealedthathighschoolsportinCanadaispromotedasanextensionoftheclassroom.Atanationallevel,theCanadianSchoolSportFederation(n.d.)hasembeddedvaluessuchasfriendlyrelationships,goodsportsmanship,citizenship,crossculturalunderstanding,andrespectaspartoftheirCodeofEthicsforallmembersof
a school community involved with school sport. Provincial
schoolsport organizations reflect similar values. For example, the
AlbertaSchoolsAthleticAssociation(ASAA,20062007),anonprofitvoluntaryorganizationgoverninghighschoolsport
intheprovince,promotesthefollowingmissionstatement:Toadvocate
involvement
inschoolsportasanintegralpartofeducationandtoprovidegovernanceofinterschoolsport
activities for high school students through fair play and
equalopportunity (n. p.) Some of the ASAAs specific objectives
includemaintaining good sportsmanship, integrity, and goodwill
within
andbetweenhighschoolsparticipatingininterschoolathletics,andpromotingawarenessamongstudentsthattheprimaryaimofschooliseducation,butathleticsprovidesignificantphysical,social,cultural,andemotionalvalues.Beyond
thisrhetoric, itseemed that themain
functionoftheASAAwastoorganizeprovincialchampionshipsforvarioussports(which
was actually the reason why the organization was
firstestablishedin1956).
The athletics program at Metro High was consistent with
thesenationalandprovincialpolicies.ThemissionoftheMetroHighAthleticsprogram
(which will be referred to as the Cougars) was to
provideopportunitiesforstudentathletestolearnlifeskillsandbecomeresponsible
citizens. Some of these life skills included respect,
responsibility,andintegrity.
Our fieldwork showed that these charactervirtueswere
communicated through thesemioticsystemrather than throughdirect
teaching.The semiotic system, part of amicrosystem, represents
peoples interactions with the world of symbols and language
(Bronfenbrenner &Morris,1998).AtMetroHigh,awallof
theschoolgymadjacent to the
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 291
soccerteamroomandvisiblefromthemainhallwaywascoveredwithlarge
signs depicting the Cougar character virtues. These virtues
includedhonesty, respect, responsibility, fairness,and
integrity.Studentathletes would see these signs every day.
Additionally, the
athleticshandbookwasavailabletothestudentsthroughtheschoolwebsite.Wedidnot,however,observeanyexampleswhenthesecharactervirtuesorthemissionstatementwereverbalizedtothestudentathletes.Thecoachadmitted
thathewasawareof thevirtuesbutdidnotdirectly seek toreinforce them
on a daytoday basis. Furthermore, the last interviewquestion asked
of the studentathletes was Can you list the
Cougarcharactervirtues?Althoughallthestudentathleteswereabletorecallacoupleofthevirtues,onlyonewasabletolistallofthem.
Anotherpolicy issuewas that the coach could
enforceavarietyofmeasures if studentathletes were performing poorly
in school.
Forexample,ifstudentathletesmarkswerepoortheycouldbeplacedonaprobationaryperiod,which
initially involvedhaving theirclassattendance recorded. If their
academicperformancedidnot improve,
and/ortheirattendancewasunsatisfactory, theycouldbe suspended from
theschoolteam.Althoughnoonewassuspendedforpoorgrades,onestudentwas
suspendedduring the season foronegamebecause the
coachlearnedhehadbeenskippingclasses.ThestudentinquestionhadaveryhighGPA,and
thecoachhadbeencontactedbyanother
teacheraboutthestudentserraticattendance.Theathletewastoldthat
ifhestoppedskipping classes he could play soccer again. The coach
told the researchers that thiswas an unwritten policy,whichwas not
employeduniformlyacross the schoolorother localhigh schools
(fieldwork log,May 20). Thus, sport participation was used as an
indirect means ofcontrollingstudentsacademicachievement.
CoachsPhilosophyandApproach
Thecoachsgeneralphilosophywasthat[Metro]isconsideredasportsschoolwhereexcellenceinathleticsisatthecoreoftheschoolsreputation.
. . .Mymain focus is tohave theplayersappreciate that
theyarepartofatraditionofexcellenceandthattheydotheirbesttorepresentthat
tradition. In addition to his performanceorientation,Coach
alsobelievedthat:
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292 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
...socceritselfcanteachmanythings.Itendtotalkaboutthetoolsthatwearegiven
to complete tasksand Ioften refer toelementsofadversity.Myhope
isthat students can [get] better at accepting new challenges even
if failure is
apossibleoutcome.Iwantthemtoadoptanattitudeofperseverance.Ultimatelyitgoes
back to a little quote by Victor Frankl [coach then read the
followingquotation]:Everythingcanbe taken fromamanbutone thing: the
lastof
thehumanfreedomstochooseonesattitudeinanygivencircumstances,tochooseonesownway.Idobelievethatifthefreedomtochoose[onesattitude]isstilltherethenachancetofightandovercomestillexists.(Coachsinterview)
The coachs philosophy played out in soccer by his telling
studentathletes that, although they could not change the situation
(e.g., thereferees call), they could change their attitude in that
situation.
Hebelievedthatthisprovidedthestudentathleteswithasenseoffreedom.
The first thingwenotedabout coachsapproachwas
thathewentoutofhiswaytodeveloprelationshipswitheachofthestudentathleteson
the team. Mostly, this involved interacting with
studentathletesbefore or after games/practices, and (as he told us)
during breaksthroughout the school day. He would use humor, join in
with thestudentathletesbanter,andoftenaskthemabouttheir
livesoutsideofschool. Inparticular,hewould talk
tostudentathletesabout theirclubteams, other coaches, and other
studentathletes.Rarelydidhe talk tostudentathletes about their
schoolwork.However,wediscovered thatmany of the studentathletes had
chosen to take coachs classes. Hethought that thiswasdue, inpart,
to the fact that theyknewhim fromsoccer.
We also paid attention to the behaviours coach displayed
duringpracticesandgames.Wedescribedhimasaquietsortofcoachwhorarely
raisedhisvoice to the studentathletes.Forpracticeshe arrivedearly
to set updrills andprepared his sessions thoroughly.He
beganpracticesbyexplainingwhatwasgoingtohappen.Althoughwedidnotsystematicallyassess
this,a featureofhiscoachingwas
thatheconsistentlyprovidedperformancecontingentfeedback.Thatis,afteraplayermadeamistake,coachwouldprovidecorrectiveinformation.Coachalsodemonstrated
the same types of behaviours during games. However,during games he
was more animated, and he was mindful of
this.Duringaninformalconversation,hetoldtheleadresearcherthathetried
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 293
tomakesurethathedidnottalktoomuchduringgamesbecausehedidnotwanttobecomeadistractiontothestudentathletes,andhetriedtoensure
that his comments were helpful rather than just
descriptive(notefromfieldworklog,June3).Researchhasshownthatcoacheswhoprovided
more mistakecontingent technical instruction, less
general(nonspecificfeedback),lesspunishment,andengagedinfewercontrolling
behaviours had athletes with higher levels of sport
enjoyment,perceived competence, and interest in sportparticipation
in the future(Smith, Smoll, & Curtis, 1979). Consequently, we
thought that coachdisplayed many of the characteristics associated
with effective youthsportcoaches.
LifeSkillsAssociatedwithParticipationontheTeam
Initiative.Ninestudentathletes(75%)reportedbehaviours/attitudesthatwere
consistent with the concept of initiative (Dworkin et al.,
2003;Hansenetal.,2003;Larson,2000),whichinvolveslearningtosetrealisticgoals,
learning to manage time, and taking responsibility for
oneself.Studentathletes were not directly taught any of these
skills in
sport.Rather,ourdatawereprimarilyabouthowthestudentathletesdemonstrated
personal responsibility.P7 explained how studentathletes
hadlearnedtoberesponsibletoadheretothestructurecoachcreated:
Youhave toget thereon time [togames/practices].Youhave tobeable
tobeprepared,readytogo.Ifyoucantgoyougottaletthecoachknowwhatsgoingon.Ifhetellsyoutoputupthenetyougottagoputupthenet,itsyourresponsibility.Ifyougottagopickuptheballsitsyourresponsibility.Andbeingontheteamisaresponsibilityfromyourselftotheschool.(Interview,StudentP7)
These responsibilities were markedly different to the
studentathletesexperienceswiththeirclubteamsbecausealltheclubteamshadseveralcoaches/parents(oftenincludinganequipmentmanager)totakecareofsuchdetails(fieldworklogentry,basedondiscussionwithP10,May17).By
contrast, parentswere rarely involvedwith the highschool
soccerteam.
Coachexplainedthathelookedforinputfromplayers,whetheritsoneononeorwiththegroup.IhopethatthewayIdothingswillallowplayers
toaskmequestions. Indeed, inone instanceduring the
earlypartoftheseason,theoppositioncancelledontheThursdayforaprac
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294 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
ticegamescheduledforaFriday.Coachinformedthestudentathletesofthecancellationat
theendofpracticeon theThursday.Thisannouncement prompted two
grade12 studentathletes to ask if instead of thegame the team would
have a practice session. Coach responded bysaying,Illbehere
ifyouwantme tobehere,but itsup toyouguysbecause there is no point
running a session for a couple of guys(fieldnote entry, April 20).
At this point the two grade12
studentathletestookastrawpolloftheteamanditwasagreedthattherewouldbeapracticethenextday.Thisexamplereflectedasituationwherebythecoachprovidedanopportunity
for thestudents toshow
responsibility,butwewouldarguethathedidnotspecificallyteachthestudentsaboutthislifeskill(ordiscusshowitmaytransfertootherdomains).
No studentathletes reported that they learned initiative
directlyfromplayingon thesoccer team.Rather, itseemed that
theyexpressedinitiative through soccer. However, we were unable to
establish
justhow,why,andwherethestudentathletesdidlearnaboutinitiative.Wespeculated
that the ideaof takingpersonal responsibilityandworkinghard to
achieve goalsmayhave beenprerequisites for soccer
involvementatthislevel.Wealsothoughtthatthecoachcreatedastructureforyouth
todisplay thesequalities, rather than specifically teaching
thesequalities.
Respect.ThesecondmainlifeskillweidentifiedreflectedtheLerneret
al. (2005) concept ofCharacter,which involves learning respect
forsocietal and cultural rules. However, we did not find examples
ofstudentathletesdemonstratingrespectinthecontextofbroadersociety.Rather,theytalkedaboutrespect
inregardtothesubcultureofsoccer.Elevenstudentathletes(91.7%)reporteddataconsistentwiththistheme.P11saidthathehadlearnedtorespectotherstudentathletes....Afterthegamewhenwegooutandshaketheirhandsevenifwelost,westillhave
toshake theirhandsandbe respectful. Interestingly,
thisbehaviouralmanifestationofshowingrespectaftergames(i.e.,shakinghands)hasbeenaproblem
insomeCanadianhighschoolsoccer teams. In
theOttawaarea,theathleticsboardactuallybannedpostgamehandshakesaftermalesgamesbecauseitwascausingtoomanyfights(Egan,2006).
P8explainedhowcoachmodeledrespect:
[H]e never ever like looks down at any other teams.He always
shows them
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 295
respect....Healwaysteachesiflikearefisreffingagame,aspoorlyashemaybereffing,aspoorlyashemaybedoing,regardlessyourealwaysrespectfulofhimandyourenevertalkingback.Andthesecondyoumakeamistakeandyoudosomethingthatlikeaffectstheoverallimageof[Metro]Highonthepitchhelltakeyourightoffnomatterwhoyouare.(Interview,P8)
Despite interviewdatadescribing the coachmodeling respect,
ourobservations revealed some contradictions.During a game (which
theCougarswon)against the teamwhicheventuallybeat them in
thecityfinal,thefollowingentrywasmadeinthefieldworklog(May8):
[Coach]wasalsogetting frustrated,andyelledat therefacoupleof
times.Hedidntsayanythingrude...,[but]heyelledthingslikewhatisthecall?andhewalkedabout15yardsdown
the touchline toask therefaboutan
inconsistentyellowcardhehadjustnotgivenforshirtpulling.(Fieldworklog,May8)
Modeling is a powerful means of transmitting values and
attitudes;learning canoccurvicariouslywhen adolescentsobservemodels
(Bandura, 1986).Thus, rather than the coachdirectly teaching the
studentathletesaboutrespect,hetendedtomodelrespectfulbehaviours.However,becausethecoachdidnotconsistentlydemonstraterespectforthereferee,
the fact that the studentathleteswere also inconsistent in
thisregardisnotsurprising.
We found that thestudentathletescouldbepunished for failing
todemonstraterespect.P6recalled:
LastyearintheCityfinalgameIgotayellowcardandIgotcalleddownbytheathleticpersonhere,Ms.H.andshesatmedowncauseshesaidshewasgonnasuspendmefromschoolcauseshethoughtIsworebutIexplainedthesituationand
sheobviously forgavemebutat the same time like those little things
likethatyouhavetowatchwhenyourea[student]athleteratherthanjustaflatoutstudentso....ImeantheyarenotlenientIguessyoucouldsay.(Interview,P6)
Another example of studentathletes being reprimanded for failing
toshowrespectwasobtainedduringagamewhenoneoftheCougarsstarplayerswasgettingfrustratedwiththeopponentsphysicalplayandtherefereescalls.Coachpulledtheplayertothetouchlineasplaycontinuedand
sternly told him to calmdown and stop arguing or hewould
besubstituted. It is possible that other studentathletes learned
throughtheseexamplesthattheyshouldactwithrespect.But,wefoundnoevid
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296 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
ence to show that respectwas directly taught or positively
reinforced(e.g., studentathletesbeing commended for showing
respect).Furthermore,wefoundnoevidencetoshowthatrespecttransferredoutoftheimmediate
soccer context. Rather, respect was a policy valued by
theschoolathleticprogramandstudentswerereprimanded
iftheydidnotdemonstraterespectinsportingsituations.
Teamwork/Leadership.Ourthirdthemerelatedtohowstudentathleteslearned
towork togetherasa team,and learned about leadership
andcommunication (Dworkin et al., 2003;Hansen et al., 2003).This
themealsoreflectedtheCofConnection(Lerneretal.,2005).WhereasLerneret
al. characterized connection as bidirectional exchanges between
theindividualandpeers, family,school,andcommunity,ourdata
focusedmoreon exchangesbetween studentathletes rather than
connection
towidersocietalinfluences.Therefore,forthisparticularteam,connectionoccurred
at thepeer level, rather than atwider institutional and
communitylevels.
All12 studentathletes reported that theyhad learnedabout
teamworkand leadershipthroughtheirinvolvement
intheteam.P6said:IknowalotofmyteammateswilllistentomesoItrytokindatakethatonmyshouldersabitand
try to lead [and] lendahelpinghand.P12said,
Tomake it in lifeyouactuallyhave
tocooperatewithotherpeoplesometimes,like maybe coworkers or like
students in your class or whatever cause
noteverythingisindividualsohelpsout...intermsoflearningtoworktogetherasateam.(P6interview)
In fact, teamwork and leadershipwere the only concepts that
studentathletesthoughttransferredtootherareasoftheirlives.However,ratherthan
the coach directly teaching the studentathletes about
teamwork/leadership,theyseemedtobeproducersoftheirownexperiencesinthisrespect(Larson,2000).
Thesefindingsmirrorresultsofarecentsurvey.Berrett(2006)foundthat76.6percentofAlbertastop100corporateChiefExecutiveOfficers(CEOs)and80percentofMembersoftheLegislativeAssembly(MLAs)participatedinhighschoolsport.Fiftyfourpercentoftheseindividualsreported
that theirhigh school sportparticipationhad a significant
orextensive effect on their future career development, with
teamwork
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 297
being theskill that
theyassociatedmostwithhighschoolsportparticipation.Teamwork and
leadership skillsmay arise from sport
involvementbecauseoftheuniquedemandsofteamsport.Thatis,individualsmust
learn to work together to achieve team and personal goals
(cf.Hansenetal.,2003).
Oneparticularlysalientaspectof the teamwestudiedwas that
thestudentathletes were drawn from a range of ethnic and racial
backgrounds.However, theydidnot talkabout learning
tobridgeethnicorracialdifferences through their involvement on the
team.Rather, theytalked aboutdeveloping friendshipswith younger (or
older) students.Forexample,P10said,
Ithinksoccerlikebondsyou....IdontthinkIdinteractalotofthegrade12sItalktonow,butalotofthemarelikemoreclosefriendsnow[becauseweareonthe
soccer team]. So its likewe have a common interest and common goal
Iguess.(P10interview)
Other qualitative work of adolescents experiences in
ethnicallydiversecommunityprogramshasfoundthatpeerinteractionsprovidedyouthwithopportunitiestobridgeindividualdifferences(Watkins,Larson,&Sullivan,2007).Thefactthatwedidnotobtaindataaboutyouthlearningtobridgeethnicdifferencesmayreflecttheideathatitisnotthepresence
ofdiverse peers in a setting but the conditionsunderwhichyouth
interact that influence theirbehaviourandattitudes (Hansenetal.,
2003; Eccles & Gootman, 2002). That is, the coach did not
createconditionsthatpromotedunderstandingofindividualdifferences.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how
youthlearned life skills through their involvement on a high school
soccerteam. By adopting an ecological systems perspective
(Bronfenbrenner,2005),wewereabletocategorizedataatmoredistalandproximallevels.Overall,wefoundthatpolicyissuesreflectedtheimportanceofstudentathleteslearninglifeskillsthroughtheirinvolvementinsport.Thecoachdevelopedrelationshipswithathletesandsoughttheirinputondecisionmaking.Wedidnotfindevidencethatthestudentathletesweredirectlytaught
about the life skills that were reported (initiative, respect,
andteamwork/leadership).Rather, thestructure
thecoachcreatedprovided
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298 N.L.HOLT,L.N.TINK,J.L.MANDIGO,&K.R.FOX
opportunities for the students todemonstrate
initiative.Studentswerepunished or reprimanded for failing to
demonstrate respect. Finally,youth appeared to be producers of
their own teamwork/leadershipexperiences. They thought that only
this skill transferred to otherdomains.
Indevelopingourinterpretationsofthesedata,wewerecognizantoftwo
important limitations.The first related to the samplebeing a
selfselectedgroupofhealthyyouth forwhom their involvement in
soccerworked.Therewasnodropoutfromtheteam,andthestudentathleteshadplayed
inprevious years.Thus,wemay have studied an
alreadyresilientgroupofadolescentsbecausetheyhadbeenabletograduatetotheircurrentpositionashighschoolstudentathletes.Thisconcernlimitsthe
generalizability of any interpretations to contexts beyond
similartypesofhighschoolsoccerteams.Futureresearchthatassesseswhetheryouth
who dropped out of sport learned any life skills would be
animportantadditiontotheliterature.Oursecondconcernrelatedtosocialdesirabilityresponsebias.Thatis,theparticipantsobviouslylikedcoachandmayhave
attempted toportrayhim inapositive lightduring theinterviews.To
thisend, itwas important tohaveobservationaldata toestablish the
coherence between the studentathletes words and theiractions.
AsDanishetal.(2005)havesuggested,nothingmagicalaboutschoolsportwill
teachadolescents life skills.Rather,how
sportprogramsarestructuredanddelivered is likely to
influenceadolescents experiences(Mahoneyetal.,2004).The current
findingsprovide some
informationabouthowoneschoolsportteamwasstructuredanddelivered,andhowthisexperiencerelatedtostudentsacquisitionoflifeskills.
We suspect that somepolicy levelclaims for thebenefitsof
schoolsportmaybeoverstated.Ifschoolsportprogramsaretrulydesignedasanextensionoftheclassroom,thenitseemsthatsportprogramsshouldembracedirectinstructionandcurriculadesignedtoteachlifeskills.Tothis
end, intervention programs like SUPER (Danish, 2002) and
TPSR(Hellison,2003)mayprovidesomeusefulguidelines.However,
furtherevaluationworkisrequiredtoestablishtheefficacyandeffectivenessoftheseinterventions(Holt&Jones,2007).Additionally,ourfindingsabouthow
the coach developed relationships with the studentathletes may
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DOYOUTHLEARNLIFESKILLS 299
provideusefulinformationforotherteachersorcoaches.Strengthsofthisstudywerethatweexaminedasingleteamoverthe
course of its entire season. We were able to assess some aspects
ofinteractionsbetweenstudentathletesandtheircontext.Wewereabletoprovideadescriptionofproximalanddistal
influenceson
thestudentathletesinvolvementinthemicrosystemofayouthsportteam.Assuch,this
study contributes to the literature by looking inside youth
sportsystemsandassessingsomecharacteristicsofthesesystemsthatcouldbemanipulated
topromotePYD.However,adolescentsengage
inarangeofmicrosystemsinadditiontoschoolsport,includingpeers,family,andwork.Wewereunable
toshowanyconnectionsbetween their involvement in
thesedifferentcontexts.Tobuildon thepresentstudy, longerterm
evaluations are required, and it is important to establish
howsporting involvementfits
intothewidersocialmilieuthatyouthexperience.Weneed
tounderstandmoreaboutwhatadolescents learn
fromtheirparents,peers,andthroughinteractionsindifferentcontexts.Suchstudies
will enable researchers, practitioners, and policymakers
toobtainabetterunderstandingoftheroleofhighschoolsportinthelivesofadolescents,andtoassessif
ithelpssomepeoplebecomeproductivemembersofadultsociety.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to the studentathletes, staff, and Edmonton Public School
Board forenablingus to conduct this study.This studywas
fundedbyaSocialSciencesandHumanitiesResearchCounciloperatinggrantawardedtoNickHolt,JamesMandigo,andKenFox,andaPopulationHealth
InvestigatorAward from
theAlbertaHeritageFoundationforMedicalResearchheldbyHolt.
NOTES
AuthorContactInformation:NicholasHolt,PhD,AssociateProfessor,FacultyofPhysicalEducationandRecreation,UniversityofAlberta,Edmonton,AB,T6G2H9.Email:[email protected];(780)4927386.
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NicholasL.HoltisanAssociateProfessorintheFacultyofPhysicalEducationandRecreation
at the University of Alberta, and a Population Health
InvestigatorfundedbytheAlbertaHeritageFoundationforMedicalResearch.
AtthetimeofthisstudyLisaN.TinkwasafinalyearundergraduatestudentintheFacultyofPhysicalEducationandRecreationattheUniversityofAlberta.JamesMandigoisanAssociateProfessorintheDepartmentofPhysicalEducationand
Kinesiology and CoDirector for the Centre for Healthy Development
atBrockUniversity.Hiswork focusesupon the role thatphysical
education
canplayinthedevelopmentoflifeskills.KenFox,apastteacherandcoach,isaprofessorattheUniversityofBristolandadvises
theUKgovernmentonphysical activity andhealth and specializes
inresearchrelatingphysicalactivitytopsychologicalwellbeing.