Early Socialization of Parents Through Organized Youth Sport

The present study addressed parent sport socialization over the initial period of a first child’s sport involvement and how parents make sense of how youth sport shapes family relationships and parenting practices. Parent experiences over the initial 15 months of a child’s organized sport participation were examined in 4 families. Three modes of data collection were used: (a) semistructured interviews with parents, children, and coaches; (b) parent journals; and (c) direct observation of parents. Informed by a social constructivist epistemology, themes were coded inductively and categorized deductively within Bronfenbrenner’s (2005) process–person–context–time model of human development. Findings showed youth sport to provide new opportunities for family interaction and to shape family communication. As a result of these changes, parents became behaviorally and emotionally engaged in youth sport, began to use sport as a vehicle to teach their children life lessons, and assimilated what was expected of parents into their behaviors in the organized youth sport setting. Through repeated social interactions, parents embraced their new and emerging roles and became reflective about their own development as parents in the context of organized youth sport.