A Coach’s Guide to Maximizing the Youth Sport Experience: Work Hard, Be Kind

This book guides sport coaches, parents and administrators in creating a caring and task-involving sport climate that helps athletes perform their best and have an enjoyable and meaningful sport experience. It introduces the concept of a caring and task-involving climate and provides a "how to" guide to creating this climate in sport.

Firstly, this guide introduces the caring and task-involving climate and summarizes research highlighting its many benefits. Secondly, the five features of this climate are presented along with the reflective exercises for developing them within a team. Coaches will see strategies in action, sample conversations, and a variety of ways to implement the features of a caring and task-involving experience. By describing how it may be implemented and methods for overcoming possible challenges, this book finally highlights how parents and sport administrators can support the creation and preservation of caring and task-involving climates.

By helping teams develop caring climates that optimize athletes’ sport experience and performance, this book is essential reading for coaches, sport administrators, parents, and sport psychology practitioners. It will also be of great interest to those who have minimal training in sport psychology, but who are involved in sport at many levels, such as youth and high school.

Mary Fry is a professor of Sport Psychology and Director of the Sport and Exercise Psychology Lab at the University of Kansas, USA.

Lori Gano-Overway is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at James Madison University, USA, and certified mental performance consultant.

Marta Guivernau is an assistant professor in the Department of Foundations, Leadership and Administration at Kent State University, USA, and certified mental performance consultant.

Mi-Sook Kim is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at San Francisco State University, USA.

Maria Newton is an associate professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Health, Kinesiology and Recreation at the University of Utah, USA.