Meaningfulness in Youth Sport

Background Many young people feel that youth sport lacks personal meaning and relevance. Too often, children disengage because their experiences do not match their participation preferences (Crane and Temple, 2015). Prioritising meaningfulness is one way to address these concerns. Attention to meaningfulness involves focusing on the quality of each individual’s experience to help them position physical activity as a valued and enriching part of their everyday lives. Objectives 1.Convene a network including partners from different European countries with expertise on meaningfulness/youth sport/professional development. 2.Collaborate within the network to develop pedagogies of meaningfulness in youth sport for children aged 6-12 years.3.Facilitate collaboration between volunteer coaches/parents and academics to implement and refine pedagogies of meaningfulness in youth sport with children aged 6 – 12 years and share their experiences. Implementation The project included:•Four Transnational project meetings (TPMs). As well as inviting all EU project associates to meet, local sports coaches were invited to attend the TPM hosted in their country.•Three Dissemination activities (DA): (1) a menu of pedagogies, (2) a series of blogs, and (3) a written educational resource•A multiplier event (ME) in each implementation country Achievements 1.Establishment of a Meaningfulness in Youth Sport network including partners from four different European countries and from Canada. 2.Identification and implementation of pedagogies of meaningfulness in youth sport for children aged 6-12 years through collaboration between volunteer coaches/parents and academics. 3.Dissemination of Meaningfulness in Youth Sport pedagogies and youth coach experiences through a pdf resource, blogs and multiplier launch events.