Abstract des Autors

Every year in Westernized countries, millions of parents enroll their children, usually at their own personal cost, in organized, outside-of-school sport programs. Organized sport programs have such popularity because of a set of beliefs associated with youth sport participation. Generally accepted assumptions of youth participation in sport include benefits for physical, psychological, and social health. More specifically, engaging in organized sport is thought to enhance children’s self-esteem, perseverance, physical strength and endurance, leadership, teamwork, and other prosocial skills, and some evidence supports these claims (Fraser-Thomas, Côté, & Deakin, 2005). And yet, substantial evidence also exists that challenges these beliefs of sport being “innately good” (Giulianotti, 2004).