Jessica Fraser-Thomas -York University, SRG 2008
P. Dafai, P Donnelly
Français
What we do and don’t know …
Despite the assumption that sport facilitates leadership, sportspersonship, and initiative, relatively little research has explored young children's social and life skill development through sport. Given the growth of children's involvement in structured sport programs at increasingly early ages and the significant influence of adults (e.g., parents) among the youngest demographic, our first objective is to explore sport participation and development among preschoolers. The Olympic Games offer a social and cultural event with the potential to influence young children's sport participation and development. A popular assumption among the public, politicians and policy makers is that the Olympic Games have a 'trickle down effect', positively influencing sport involvement at the grassroots level and promoting pro-social norms such as fair play. While research has not strongly supported the trickle down effect, there has been no examination of this potential effect in young children, arguably the most influenced. Our second objective is to examine preschoolers' sport participation patterns pre- and post-Olympic Games. Finally, there has been no examination of the processes by which the Games may lead to a trickle down effect, particularly in the area of broader social development, thus our third objective is to explore the influence of the Olympic Games on preschoolers' psychological and social development.
How we will address the research questions…
This research program will be built around the 2012 London Olympic Games. Data will be collected in spring 2012 and spring 2013. At both time points, parents of preschoolers (N=250) will complete an online proxy survey of their children's sport participation patterns. In addition, childcare providers, parents, and preschoolers at 10 childcare centres will engage in interviews and focus groups exploring preschoolers’ sport participation patterns and development through sport, and the influence of the 2012 Olympic Games on preschoolers' psychological and social development.
How this research will contribute to enhancing sport participation…
Findings will speak directly to the assessment of the benefits and outcomes of participation in sport and the identification of the barriers to participation in sport. Sport programmers and policy makers will be interested in findings on the role of sport in facilitating positive development among preschoolers. Further, policy makers and programmers will be interested in findings as they will offer preliminary insight into the opportunities as well as potential social and structural barriers to sport participation among the youngest demographic.
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