Organized youth sports and the psychological development of nine-year-old males

Two hundred thirty-two 9-year-old males were administered the Harter Self-Perception Profile before and after a season of participation in organized youth sports to assess changes in their self-perceptions of competence and self-worth. The children were participating in either soccer or baseball, and the levels of competition were either tryout or recreation. Harter's cognitive-developmental formulations suggested that soccer players and/or the recreation league players in both sports would show greater increases in self-perceptions than those involved in baseball and/or the tryout leagues. Additionally, parents and coaches rated the players on several dimensions hypothesized to be influenced by participation in youth sports. Across all groups, children's perceptions of their athletic and scholastic competence, physical appearance, and global self-worth increased from pre- to post-season. Although there were no differential changes by group, the results suggest that these activities at best promoted children's psychological development, and at worst, did not decrease their self-perceptions.