This book responds to the needs of urban youth by describing youth development principles in physical activity programs. These programs are built on urban kids' assets and promise rather than their deficits. Included are ways of transferring skills from specific programs to everyday settings.

As a coach, physical education teacher, or adult facilitator of youth athletics, you have a unique opportunity. Through the medium of sport, you can help young people cultivate the leadership skills they'll need to succeed in life, whether they become CEOs, salespeople, construction workers, or stay-at-home parents. Mark Mungal has created a powerful, sport-centric program of character-and-confidence- building learning experiences specifically designed for middle school and high school-aged participants. The proven principles, strategies, and techniques in this invaluable how-to guide will empower teens by: - Enhancing their communication and decision-making skills - Fostering creativity, adaptability, persistence, and resourcefulness - Encouraging openness, honesty, and meaningful relationships - Promoting self-respect, self-value, and social responsibility - And much more Leadership is not a talent restricted to an elite few. There is hidden strength in every young adult. Developing Youth Leadership through Sport will give you the tools to set it free.

Professionals in educational and recreational settings work hard to understand and address the problems faced by underserved youth. Yet the dedicated people in these institutions are often limited in what they can achieve because they tend to remain within the confines of their own work environment rather than sharing their expertise and resources. Instead of accepting this as an unfortunate fact of life, the coauthors of this book see the situation as an opportunity to develop an approach in which the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. In Youth Development and Physical Activity: Linking Universities and Communities, they draw on their considerable teaching experience to present innovative new ways to serve underserved youth. The book describes practical strategies for breaking down the walls between universities and communities so they can combine their strengths to improve young people's lives. You'll find a wealth of guidelines for creating physical activity programs that instill a sense of social and personal responsibility, including numerous real-life examples of successful programs. Youth Development and Physical Activity: Linking Universities and Communities is divided into four parts, each enriched with the colorful "voices" and stories of real kids and youth leaders who have put these ideas into practice: -Part I provides a sobering look at the challenges today's young people face and introduces positive ways to improve physical activity youth programs so they're meaningful in today's world. -In Part II, you'll learn how to move from "how it is" to "how it could be," using a breakthrough model for working with kids and building programs. Here the book provides a road map that shows the way for university students and faculty to connect with youth in their communities through service learning, internships, and other outreach programs -Part III spells out how to develop a variety of proven youth physical activity programs--from adventure experiences and Coaching Clubs to mentoring and teen parent programs. You'll find many great ideas that work in virtually any setting, including public schools, alternative schools, recreation programs, youth service groups, and social agencies. -Part IV provides a variety of helpful tools for evaluating programs and improving outcomes, as well as insights on how professionals can develop the skills they need to respond to the changing demands on youth leaders. Written by professionals with a combined 70 years of experience working with underserved youth, this book is must reading for both professionals and organizations practicing in a world where youth too often slip through the cracks. It provides a clear and hopeful framework for improving the lives of kids as well as the communities in which they live.

The first Positive Youth Development title to focus on the role of sport, this book brings together high profile contributors from diverse disciplines to critically examine the ways in which sport can be and has been used to promote youth development. Young people are too frequently looked upon as problems waiting to be solved. From the perspective of Positive Youth Development (PYD), young people are understood to embody potential, awaiting development. Involvement with sport provides a developmental context that has been associated with PYD, but negative outcomes can also arise from sport participation and school PE. Sport itself does not lead to PYD; rather, it is the manner in which sport is structured and delivered to children that influences their development. Positive Youth Development Through Sport fills a void in the literature by bringing together experts from diverse disciplines to critically examine the ways in which sport can be and has been used to promote youth development.

Developing college students’ leadership capacity has become an essential outcome in higher education over the past decade. Collegiate recreation and intercollegiate athletics are two unique environments that often integrate leadership development initiatives. This volume explores the developing leadership capacity of students in recreation and athletic settings and includes: a variety of conceptual frameworks, including the Social Change Model of Leadership Development, practical approaches for creating leadership education initiatives, discussions of the difficulties students face transitioning from high school to college, and literature and resources for assessing leadership development occurring in recreation and athletics. This volume provides a great resource for practitioners and educators to positively influence the leadership development of students throughout their time at the university. The Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Student Leadership explores leadership concepts and pedagogical topics of interest to high school and college leadership educators. Issues are grounded in scholarship and feature practical applications and best practices in youth and adult leadership education.

Contemporary Leadership in Sport Organizations blends research on leadership with practical application of the skills and knowledge that students will need on the job. This text provides sport management students with a comprehensive understanding of the complex topic of leadership in sport through a presentation of foundational and contemporary research, numerous practical examples and analytical exercises, and thought-provoking self-assessments and quotes. More than leadership tips from a sport personality, Contemporary Leadership in Sport Organizations translates classic and contemporary research in leadership into leadership skills and behaviors that are useful in present-day sport settings. Synopses of research findings are presented in table format for an accessible approach to understanding the three Rs of leadership: relationships, results, and responsibility. In addition, a variety of learning features reinforce content: • Practical examples provide opportunities to critically consider the concepts under discussion. • Chapter-opening objectives, as well as pre- and postchapter self-assessments, help students measure their understanding of chapter content. • Specific examples and case studies applicable to a broad range of sport leadership roles put research into practice. • On the Sidelines stories, Your Thoughts boxes, and questions at the end of chapters are incorporated throughout the book to provide examples and stimulate discussions applicable to a broad range of sport leadership roles across youth, amateur, intercollegiate, professional, and commercial sport organizations. Part I of the text offers a leadership primer, introducing the elements of business and educational environments in which sport organizations operate. Students will learn how leaders in sport organizations typically assume both managerial and leadership roles and how these roles integrate and diverge, and they will review the historical foundation and evolution of leadership theories from the academic literature. Part II covers applied leadership thought and action and how leaders can become more effective in addressing critical challenges of the present and future. Key topics such as decision making, organizational change, emotional intelligence, vision, strategic planning, and crisis management are discussed. Professional growth and development are the focus of part III, considering multiple approaches and tools for improving self-understanding, personal development, and leadership mentoring. Contemporary Leadership in Sport Organizations provides a foundational and contextualized body of information regarding thought and practice in leadership to inform and inspire students of sport management. Whether preparing for leadership roles in sport organizations or preparing for teaching, research, and academic study in the field of sport leadership, students will gain a solid understanding of the theoretical foundations of leadership in sport and how it is applied to sport-related organizations of all types and sizes.