Development Zone®

   

PCA Resource Center

3 Steps To Maximize Positive Youth Development

Share This Resource

Dr. Richard Lerner, a PCA National Advisory Board Member, is the Director of the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University. Lerner has more than 650 scholarly publications and is known for his research about the relations between adolescents and their peers, families, schools, and communities. His work often focuses on positive youth development and youth contributions to society.

Lerner identifies three steps that are most important for a youth coach that wants to maximize positive development in sports and in life.

1) Form a positive and sustained high quality relationship with your athlete.
2) Teach important life and athletic skills. Athletes will “become good kids and citizens” not just athletes.
3) Provide an opportunity for athletes to use those skills in a valued context. Often, this context is sports, but there are several parts of life where kids can practice these skills.