Sports Academy as an Avenue for Psychosocial Development and Satisfaction of Youth Athletes in Ethiopia

Abstract

This study aimed to explore a social-contextual view of talent development in sports by which the demographic and contextual factors of engagement, psychosocial development, and satisfaction, and the extent of their relationships, may be investigated concurrently. The sample (n = 257, nfemale = 122, and nmale = 135) consists of youth athletes (mean age = 17.87 and standard deviation = 1.10), and cross-sectional survey data from two randomly selected sports academies in Ethiopia. Analyses involve group comparisons to identify differences and multiple regressions to examine predictions. Group comparison results show that enrollment in a sports academy accounted for a significant difference in youth athletes’ measured engagement. Moreover, results of regression analyses indicate that higher psychosocial development and more satisfaction of youth athletes were associated with higher engagement and some demographic and contextual factors. Results also show that higher engagement of youth athletes was associated with some demographic and contextual factors. The group comparison results support the self-determination theory, providing evidence regarding the importance of social-contextual conditions in determining the engagement of youth athletes. The results of multiple regression analyses validate engagement theory and substantiate the results of previous studies on talent development. Specifically, it may be inferred that youth athletes’ engagement is not only one of the results of participation in sports but also one of the processes contributing to higher levels of reported psychosocial development and satisfaction. The implications of these results for theory and practice are discussed.

Program Quality and Developmental Outcomes Related to Youth Volleyball in Ethiopia: Assessing Relationships and Variations

“…The findings of this study as well as others confirm that boys and girls accrue similar levels of physical activity during participation in youth sports [ 20 ]. Evidenced from childhood and beyond, a longitudinal study that utilized a cohort sequential design discovered that the relationships between participation and motivational beliefs did not vary significantly based on gender [ 33 ].…”

“…While qualitative methods such as a case study or a phenomenological study enable the study of a phenomenon in-depth [ 16 ], observational measures of program quality allow for the description of behavior in natural environments [ 17 , 18 ]. In youth sport research, most studies have relied on self-report measures [ 19 , 20 ], and this study used the same quantitative self-reported measures from the youth players who participated in the youth volleyball project studied. These measures were selected because they help us to understand if the youth volleyball program—that was the focus of this research—provided a climate that promotes PYD based on the participating youths’ perceptions [ 2 ].…”

Controls Necessary to Activate the Role of Sports Academies in the Selection of Team Sports Players

“…[24]. Thus, sports academies provide opportunities for young athletes to develop professional aspects of sports in accordance with national and international standards, and at the same time provide opportunities to develop motivation, cooperation and social relations between individuals [37,38,39].…”

The Role of Sports Academies in Developing Saudi Sports from Society’s Perspective

“…Table 3, demonstrated that the development of awareness and importance of practicing sports and physical activities was high (mean = 2.61). Some studies in developing countries reported that they are facing challenges in increase sports participation as there are some barriers due to the lack of equipment and appropriate sports facilities (Alebachew, 2014), and higher levels of engagement in sports or physical education may increase the opportunity of outcomes development above demographic and social contextual factors (Senne, 2016;Tadesse, Asmamaw, Habtemariam, & Edo, 2020). Moreover, sport participation lifetime beginning in youth age may lead to enhance physical and psychological well-being in adulthood stage (Collins, Cromartie, Butler, & Bae, 2018).…”