A brief analysis of the rate of dropouts in youth sports, causes for these dropouts, and strategies to prevent these dropouts from occurring.

1. Causes and Prevention Strategies for
Coaches
Sean Lewis

2. Overview of the Presentation
Reasons for it and strategies to prevent it
• Start with dropout statistics and importance of prevention
• Expand on the main reasons of youth drop out
• Provide coaching strategies to prevent dropout
• Suggest any areas of future research

3. Why do children start playing sport?
• Make new friends?
• Play with existing
friends?
• Most of all, to have FUN!

4. Dropout Rates and Reasons to Prevent it
Western Australian School Children in 1996
80% 11-12 year olds play sport
57% of 16-17 year olds play sport
42% of dropouts occurred between year 7-8
In the US in 2010 over 20 million children register for sports
By age 13, 70% of these kids have stopped playing
Study by Ronald Woods in 2005 states that children’s sport is at an
all time high, 10-17 year olds at 59%
Over 70% of participants drop out before high school

5. Dropout Rates and Reasons to Prevent it
• Linked to a decreased rate of school dropout when participating
in sport
• Linked to better grades
• Diminishes the growing obesity epidemic

6. Causes of youth sport dropouts
"If children go • Coaches play a critical role in
retention and dropout
practice, perform painful
drills, and improve their
skills, but have no fun, and
if the coach constantly • Mostly due to negative
hammers at their experiences, a slow
cost/benefit situation
mistakes, after a while they
are going to think, do I
really want to be here?".
Thomas Tutko, Sport Psychology Professor, San Jose • Programming models set by
University, California
coaches facilitate dropouts

7. Causes of youth sport dropouts
The top 10 reasons for quitting the sport.
Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University
Boys Girls
1. I was no longer interested. 1. I was no longer interested.
2. It was no longer fun. 2. It was no longer fun.
3. The sport took too much time 3. I needed more time to study.
4. The coach played favourites. 4. There was too much pressure
5. The coach was a poor teacher. 5. The coach was a poor teacher.
6. I was tired of playing. 6. I wanted to participate in other non-sport
activities.
7. There was too much emphasis on winning.
7. The sport took too much time.
8. I wanted to participate in other non-sport
activity. 8. The coach played favourites.
9. I needed more time to study. 9. I was tired of playing.
10. There was too much pressure. 10. Games and practices were scheduled when
I could not attend.

8. Coaching Strategies to Prevent
Dropout
• 4 of the top 5 reasons for youth
sport drop out was related to
lack of interest/fun and bad
coaches
• Therefore coaches job to
emphasise fun
• Some studies suggest that that
children like competition
• Most recent studies suggest it as
a large factor of sport drop out

9. Coaching Strategies to Prevent
Dropout
Coaching children and adolescents should focus on three things
- Fun and enjoyment
- Encourage and praise effort not result
- Skill progression
Reduce emphasis on competition

10. Coaching Strategies to Prevent
Dropout
Mastery Approach to Coaching
- Emphasises maximum
effort and improving
skills
- Focus on techniques for
providing positive
reinforcement
- Encourage effort,
Frank Smoll Ph.D. & Ronald Smith Ph.D.
demonstrate how to
prevent or fix mistake

11. Coaching Strategies to Prevent
Dropout
Pass, Catch, Kick, Tackle
- Developed by
Digisport, Australian Rugby
League Foundation
- Multimedia CD-ROM
with over 165 different
skill activities and games
- Main focus for games is
fun and enjoyment
http://www.digisport.com.au/PassCatchKickTackle.html

12. Coaching Strategies to Prevent
Dropout
• Studies shown that
programmed model/rigid
training regimes facilitate
drop outs
• Children and youth athletes
should be encouraged to do
additional extra curricular
activities

13. Future Research Directions
• Did the child change sport?
• Drop from two to one sports?
• Continue with some other form of aerobic exercise?
• Up to date population based data of Australian children and
adolescents.
• Did the child return to sport?
• At what age and how long for?

14. Conclusion
• Youth dropout rates in sport is a significant problem
• Can be narrowed to a small age group where dropout is
especially prevalent
• Need to place greater emphasis on fun, effort, skill
development, other activities
• Less on competition and winning
• Likely to see large improvements in retention rates among
youth sports