Development Zone®

   

PCA Resource Center

Peer Influence: "You Are Who You Run With"

Share This Resource

Andrea Vest Ettekal is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development. She earned a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry from Kent State University (Kent, OH) and both her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ). Currently, she is Project Director of a project titled “Evaluating the Positive Coaching Alliance Model: Developing Competitors of Character” funded by the John Templeton Foundation. Andrea has special expertise in youth out-of-school time (OST) programs with a focus on adolescents' sport participation.

In this video, Andrea utters a universal truth about youth: "You are who you run with." Coaches who are struggling to motivate players can use that truth to their advantage. If an individual athlete seems to be the problem, enlist the help of the players who most influence that individual. Their positive example can help turn the tide.