An even playing field

An even playing field

By Anne Craig

October 1, 2014

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Queen鈥檚 University professor Jean C么t茅 (School of Kinesiology) is pushing policy makers to use guidelines developed by his research group when creating youth sports programs as a way of engaging more youth in amateur sport.

Queen's Professor Jean Cote.

Dr. C么t茅 researched and developed the 3Ps - performance, participation and personal development 鈥 three areas that should be included in all policy decisions regarding youth sports.

鈥淲hen structured properly, youth sport has the capacity to build important personal assets such as competence, confidence, connection with others, and character that are important for future sport involvement,鈥 says Dr. C么t茅. 鈥淯sing the 3Ps together is critical for success of these programs.鈥

The challenge for countries and national governing bodies is structuring sport to simultaneously facilitate the achievement of excellence as well as participation.

 鈥淵outh sport programs that focus on diversification and deliberate play, or what we describe as the 鈥榮ampling years,鈥 during childhood build a solid foundation for long-term physical activity participation, future elite performance in one sport, and personal development,鈥 says Dr. C么t茅.

The research was published in the most recent issue of the .

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