Youth sports furthers the development of self-concept and esteem, especially as children undergo puberty. As adolescents, many teenagers begin to feel more self-conscious and solidify a sense of self that will sustain into adulthood. Naturally, individuals want to engage in activities they feel confident in, and past experiences with sports are going to shape the attitude that determines these preferences (Huppertz et al., 2016). The activity drive exhibited in adolescents typically leads to sports involvement, positively developing traits of extraversion, sensation-seeking, contentiousness, and impulsivity management (Huppertz et al., 2016).
Executive functions including working memory, inhibition, mental shifting, and information processing are strengthened and developed through childhood and into adolescence. Increased aerobic exercise specifically increases inhibitory control, suggesting a significant relationship between athletics from a young age and impulse management (Chaddock-Heyman et al., 2018). As executive functions mature, they become integrated and promote further inhibitory control. Between ages 8-11, the brain’s ability to regulate the speed and accuracy of impulses advances in the bilateral striatum, right mid frontal gyrus, right interior parietal lobe, and stimulates the right putamen (Pas et al., 2021). Physical tasks prompting coordination and cognition refine the efficiency of inhibitory control (Álvarez-Bueno et al., 2017). Not only does participation in youth sports promote activation in multiple brain locations, but it’s an outlet for monitoring inhibition proactively and reactively.
As children grow and enter adolescence, they undergo mental and physical changes. One’s ability to self-regulate enhances their ability to adapt to changing circumstances and goal-planning. Neurological growth builds off lower-level skills, and self-regulation (a high-level executive function), matures from these foundations developed in childhood. Youth sports are an intentional opportunity to practice mindful exercise beyond physical health.
A research study testing for psychological benefits of mindless aerobic activity (often found in classroom settings via alternate seating) found that children engaged in goal-oriented movement and incrimentally challenging activity improves executive functioning (Diamond & Ling, 2016). Students who participated in Taekwondo instruction instead of standard physical education displayed increased executive functioning skills and solidified the idea that mindful exercise is valuable to developing children (Diamond & Ling, 2016). The intensity of exercise has also been seen to influence the magnitude of this data, suggesting that more strenuous activities feel more rewarding (Huppertz et al., 2016). Youth sports exposes players not only to physical fitness, but vigorous activity increasing focus ability, perseverance, and emotional regulation.
Sports demanding accurate, precise, and flexible cognition result in amplified executive functioning skills (Álvarez-Bueno et al., 2017). Activities like running, for example, become more taxing both physically and mentally as distance and speed are increased, reflecting a need for focus and determination (Diamond & Ling, 2016). These traits are developed through praise and training, and sports practices or games create concentrated opportunities for young athletes to strengthen their executive functioning.
These findings are consistent with Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, where one’s development increases with the attainable challenge presented to them. With appropriate scaffolding, children who apply their skills to a task within their zone of proximal development will be able to practice and accomplish the given task in a way that expands their zone of achieved development (Vygotskij, 2012). Adapted to sports contexts, parents and coaches actively scaffold young players by encouraging participation and giving positive feedback.