Sam Elliott

Parents in youth sport: what happens after the game?

Characteristic issues surrounding parents in youth sport include examples of negative verbal and non-verbal behaviour demonstrated during competition. Numerous studies have done well to highlight while parents possess a great potential for positively influencing the sport experience, they can also exert a considerable negative influence by engaging in a range of non-preferred and inappropriate behaviours. There is certainly a need to further understand the nature of the sport-parenting paradigm given that encouraging and supportive parental involvement is a critical factor in promoting enjoyment and intrinsic motivation among participants. This is particularly important given that childrens preferred parental behaviours are temporally dependent. That is, different types of parental involvement are preferred before, during and after competitive sport. However, one aspect of parental involvement in youth sport which has been largely overlooked is the post-game setting. Drawing on qualitative data derived from focus groups and individual interviews with 86 parents and children involved in junior Australian football, this paper reveals an aspect of the sport-parenting role which can further enhance or undermine the youth sport experience. Specifically, it reveals an intriguing insight into the way that parents engage in ‘debriefing’ childrens performances—representing a challenge for parents who strive to engender a positive and supportive influence in youth sport. While the concept of sport-parenting receives much attention within the competitive setting, this paper argues that in order to enhance the quality of parental involvement in youth sport, much can be learnt from exploring ‘what happens after the game’.

The (limited) impact of sport policy on parental behaviour in youth sport: a qualitative inquiry in junior Australian football.

It is well documented that parents can comprise a significant positive influence in the youth sport setting. Parents are often acknowledged for providing support and encouragement in addition to the necessary financial and logistical support that enables sporting opportunities. However, there is also a concern that parents possess the potential to negatively influence the participatory experience. While this sociocultural phenomenon has received much academic attention in the international community, the impact of sport policy on parental behaviour has been largely overlooked. This paper is one of several to emerge from a larger qualitative study on parental influence in the junior Australian football experience in South Australia. Drawing upon rich qualitative data derived from focus groups and individual interviews with parents (n = 34), children (n = 52) and coaches (n = 16), this paper examines their attitudes and perceptions toward the code of conduct in junior Australian football. The results indicate that wider social and cultural imperatives can impact the meaning and significance of the code of conduct policy for encouraging positive parental behaviour. The implications for sport providers and policy-makers include a consideration for adopting a ‘top-down’ approach to address issues of parental behaviour in children’s and youth sport.

A socio-cultural exploration of parental involvement in junior Australian Rules football

The junior Australian football landscape has been frequently linked to reports of undesirable parental behaviour, yet sufficient understanding around this potential socio-cultural issue remains limited. In light of this paucity, the study presented within this paper makes a unique contribution to the broad field of parent–sport literature by offering an insight into the self-perceived nature of parental involvement in junior Australian football. This research draws on in-depth qualitative data obtained during three separate focus group interviews from 15 parents of junior Australian football participants in South Australia. Participants provided rich, descriptive information which, through a thematic content analysis, led to the emergence of six principal themes. This paper considers two of those key themes which concern the diverse, yet equally significant relationships within the junior Australian football experience – (a) the parent–child relationship, and (b) the parent–parent relationships. This research not only provides the reader with an insight into the tensions around parent-oriented relationships in junior Australian football, but underlines the need for greater academic attention toward understanding this socio-cultural issue.

The Experiences of Being a Talented Youth Athlete: Lessons for Parents

Involvement in organized sport can be highly demanding for young athletes who encounter many difficult situations and stressors. This can be exacerbated among youth athletes who have been recruited into talent-identification youth sport programs. Given that there are a range of negative consequences that can result when talent-identified (TI) youth athletes are unable to cope with the stressors they encounter, additional support is therefore necessary. Parents are uniquely situated to assist in this regard, but they are not always equipped to provide optimal levels of support. Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand the experiences of being a TI youth athlete and present the findings as “lessons” for parents seeking to enhance their involvement in TI youth sport settings. This article reports on qualitative data collected from the 1st year of a 3-year longitudinal study involving TI youth athletes from South Australia. Fifty male athletes (M age = 14.6 years) participated in focus groups to hear their experiences of being a TI youth athlete and understand what difficulties they want their parents to know. From the thematic analysis, 3 major themes were identified from the focus groups with TI youth athletes: (a) difficulties with being talented, (b) negotiating the future, and (c) playing for improvement. From the findings, a number of lessons for parents and youth sport organizations are offered to assist the transmission of knowledge to an applied setting.

During play, the break, and the drive home: the meaning of parental verbal behaviour in youth sport

Abstract Problems surrounding parental involvement in youth sport have received much attention in the international academic community. Most of the focus has surrounded the frequency and nature of parental verbal behaviour such as criticism, swearing and abuse. While such behaviour has the potential to exert a negative influence in youth sport, little is known about the socially constructed meaning of parental verbal behaviour. In other words, there is a current lack of understanding surrounding the social significance (or lack thereof) of parental comments, criticisms and abuse in the context of youth sport. Addressing this oversight is important given that parents and youth do not always share a common appreciation of parental involvement in sport. This paper reports on a study which sought to generate a greater understanding of parental involvement in the junior Australian football experience. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with parents and youth participants (n = 86) currently involved in a competitive Australian football season. Data were manually transcribed verbatim and subjected to a thematic analysis. The findings reveal how parents and youth attribute different social meaning to parental verbal behaviour during play, the breaks and the drive home. While youth appear to experience parental verbal behaviour in polarising ways, parents rationalise their own verbal behaviour and in doing so, contribute to a broader social reproduction of sport parenting behaviour.

Sport and Children's Nutrition: What Can We Learn from the Junior Australian Football Setting?.

ABSTRACT There is a widely held belief that sport participation inherently enhances health among youth. Such a perception often motivates parents to encourage childrens initial and ongoing involvement in organised sport and physical activity. While sport certainly comprises an important vehicle for accruing physical activity, the sport environment may not necessarily enhance other health-related behaviours, including dietary practices. The literature identifies the influence of the physical environment in this regard, including the availability of energy-dense nutrient-poor foods in sport settings. In considering additional influences on childrens nutrition in sporting contexts, the role of parents is less understood. This is the first paper to emerge from a larger qualitative study, in which the basis of the investigation was to explore parental influence in the junior Australian football context. The naturalistic manner of qualitative inquiry led to a number of unintended yet highly pertinent emergent themes, including the role of parents in maintaining and reinforcing some contentious dietary behaviours among children post weekend sport. Drawing on individual interviews and focus groups with parents, children and coaches (n = 102), this paper discusses the role of parents in reinforcing a ‘food-as-reward’ culture in the junior Australian football setting. The findings indicate that while parents play a vital role in promoting good nutrition in the lead up to weekend sport, they also reinforce a culture that fosters unhealthy dietary practices in the post-game setting. This gives rise to the notion that we, in this paper, have coined the ‘binge-purge’ paradox. This paper discusses the implications of this health issue in relation to the ‘sport for health’ rhetoric, and in broader society and culture.

Effects of Altering the Number of Players and the Dimensions of the Playing Area on the Possession Characteristics in Youth Australian Football

Abstract This research compared the effects of altering the number of players and the dimensions of the playing area on the possession characteristics in youth (under-14) Australian football. A modified ‘small sided game’ (SSG) 12-a-side version was compared to the full field ‘adult’ 18-a-side game. Games were video recorded and the possession characteristics later coded using the Dartfish Easy Tag program. It was found that the additional players in the 18-a-side version led on average to more tagged events (technical actions) per 18 minute period of play; however, there was a decrease in the number of tagged events per player. It was also observed that there were more scoring actions in the SSG 12-a-side game play than in the 18-a-side. The SSG 12-a-side version provided more technical actions per player in each play period and so it is suggested that it constructs a better educational experience, and therefore game development, than the 18-a-side game recommended for Australian football from under-11.

Men’s physical activity and dietary behaviours on Kangaroo Island, South Australia:

Background: Men’s health has been subjected to diverse approaches to research over the past two decades. Much of the literature has focused on specific medical and health issues. Other contributions have focused more broadly on masculinities and its relationship to health. It is arguable that there has not been a lot of attention paid to Australian rural men’s health and even less on their understanding of health as it relates to physical activity and dietary behavior. Objectives: To gain a better understanding of these issues this paper provides rich, descriptive qualitative data from men living on Kangaroo Island, which is 13.5 kilometres off the South Australian mainland and is regarded as a rural and remote area. Methods: Qualitative data is used to develop greater understanding of the men’s attitudes and behaviours as they relate to physical activity and dietary behaviours. The semistructured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 40 men aged between 23–64. Conclusions: The results indicated that the locality in which the men lived provided them with an excellent opportunity to be physically active and eat fresh, locally produced, foods. However, it was identified that many of the men did not have a comprehensive understanding of health and seemingly displayed low levels of health knowledge. As a result for many of these men, their physical health was left to chance. There was little evidence of any planned health promotion to assist them with making improvements to their nutrition and physical activity levels as they aged. Recommendations and population-based strategies are provided to assist men living in remote rural settings to enhance not only their health ultimately their health knowledge. This will positively impact community health.

Promoting Healthy Physical Activity and Nutrition in a Low Socioeconomic Status Community: A University-Australian Rules Football Collaborative Model

The Flinders-Panthers Be Your Best project was developed as a result of a successful and effective union between Flinders University and the South Adelaide Football Club, colloquially known as ‘the Panthers’. The aim of the project was to implement and evaluate, in an area of high social deprivation, an in-school health promotion programme for primary school children—based on evidence and established good practice, and capitalising on the potential of the football club as a vehicle for community engagement—for the purpose of achieving positive dietary and physical activity behaviour change.