Lindsey C. Blom

Triangulation in Youth Sport: Healthy Partnerships among Parents, Coaches, and Practitioners

Youth sport is unique because it involves communication, coordination, and maintenance of relationships among multiple adults, all of whom are vested stakeholders in a child-athletes sport experience. This dynamic becomes even more complex when a sport psychology practitioner is added; therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide guidelines and considerations to assist sport psychology practitioners in managing the triangulation of adults who are involved in the consultation process with youth athletes. We first discuss specific dyads and considerations for the practitioner and then highlight recommendations for practitioners regarding transparency and confidentiality issues specific to youth athletes.

Mentoring: Processes and Perceptions of Sport and Exercise Psychology Graduate Students

Although it has been suggested that the process of mentoring provides a number of benefits to graduate students (Kelly & Schweitzer, 1999), documentation of these benefits is limited within sport and exercise psychology (SEP). Therefore, the present study surveyed SEP graduate students (N = 104) in an attempt to understand their mentoring experiences. Results revealed the presence of both formal and informal professional and peer mentoring. Overall, mentors were perceived positively, but multiple regression analysis showed that mentoring towards professional development was most predictive of positive mentoring evaluations. Peer mentoring was found to exist at a much higher rate than has been found in other disciplines. Participants preferred professional mentoring for areas of research and writing productivity, while peer mentoring contributed to their experience as a graduate student. These results preliminarily support the inclusion of mentoring into SEP graduate school programs.

Mental Training with Youth Sport Teams: Developmental Considerations and Best-Practice Recommendations

Working with youth athletes requires knowledge of the inherent variability in child and adolescent development that will impact the implementation of a mental training program. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of developmental considerations that should be noted when doing mental training, particularly for athletes participating in sport at mid-childhood, early adolescence, and mid-adolescence. Sex differences at these stages of development are also highlighted. Additionally, we forward best-practice recommendations and learning activities that have been tailored for each developmental stage that can be used in the provision of a mental training program in a team setting.

Understanding the Occupational Stress of Collegiate Track and Field Coaches during the Championship Season

The purpose of this study was to investigate sources of occupational stress for NCAA Division I and Division III track and field coaches during the championship season. The Administrative Stress Index (ASI) measured the perceived occupational stressors, and the Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ): Part 2 assessed perceived social support. A total of 67 male and female (44.51 + 10.92 yrs.) experienced (14.75 + 10.00 yrs.) coaches participated. Results indicated that a weak to moderate significant correlation exists between the three subscales of the ASI. A significant negative correlation was found between the PRQ and task-based stress (r = −.244, p < .05). When all three predictors and the interaction of years of experience were entered into the model, the social support (β = −0.259 p = .04) and NCAA Division (β = −0.243 p = .052) were significant predictors of task-based stress. As social support increased, task-based stress decreased.

Sport for Development and Peace: Experiences Conducting U.S. and International Programs

Since 2003, a large number of grassroots sport for development and peace (SDP) programs have been created throughout the world due largely to the United Nations’ recognition and promotion of sport as a way to foster development and peace. However, researchers have challenged the unsubstantiated claims about the positive outcomes of SDP efforts, calling for a more systematic implementation and evaluation (e.g., Coalter, 2007, 2010; Darnell, 2010; Guest, 2013; Sugden, 2009). This article highlights our experiences in conducting U.S. and international SDP programs, with specific attention to establishing partnerships, developing curriculum, training program staff, monitoring and evaluation, and sustaining programs.

Interdependent Tripartite Efficacy Perceptions and Individual Performance: Case Study of a Boys' Basketball Team.

Tripartite efficacy refers to the beliefs of the individuals within a dyad regarding personal abilities (self-efficacy), the partner’s abilities (other-efficacy), or relation-inferred self-efficacy. This efficacy model has recently gained popularity in sports research (Jackson, Whipp, & Beauchamp, 2013), although there has not been any longitudinal research on efficacy beliefs and performance within this complex intra-dyad tripartite efficacy model. In a case study, we examined six individual players on a high school basketball team to explore any longitudinal changes in these tripartite efficacy beliefs through a season of play. On seven data collection periods, players completed the Basketball-Tripartite Efficacy Measure, and their game performance statistics were analyzed with an objective basketball individual performance formula. We found similar variations between participants’ other-efficacy beliefs and the dyad partner’s basketball performance score as well as between self-efficacy and individual performance score. Observational data from this case study lend some support to spiraling of self-efficacy and performance from repeated successes or failures and to perceived efficacy-performance plateaus that have been previously demonstrated in controlled experimental research. Importantly, this study suggests the presence of other-efficacy beliefs in their relationship to other-performance and to spiraling relationships between other-efficacy beliefs and other-performance, which have not been demonstrated previously.

Examining prior experiences and career attainment of FBS football head coaches

A Football Bowl Subdivision college head coach position is desired in the American football coaching profession due to associated financial benefits, social network improvements, and prestige. The rise of an individual from player, to assistant coach, and eventually head coach, is primarily understood anecdotally. This empirical evaluation of head coaching attainment provided insight into the career progression of these important sport leaders. The purpose of this study was to assess prior experiences (e.g., playing and assistant coaching) of first-time Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football head coaches hired from 1998–1999 to 2013–2014 (n = 200). Data were collected to determine if the quantity of playing and coaching experiences indicated variance within or predictability for career attainment. The five experiential categories investigated were: Playing Experience, Coaching Experience, Affiliation, Coaching Success, and Descriptive Variables. Several significant predictors among the coaching variables emerged, including coaching experience, affiliation, and past coaching success. Playing experience variables were found to be largely non-significant, suggesting that career attainment of college football coaches does not hinge on playing experience.