SESSION OVERVIEW:
The quality of youth sport experiences is a central component to sustaining sport participation; in fact, children cite “fun” as the primary reason they continue to play. In turn, its absence is the principle explanation given for dropping out of sports. Unfortunately, recent estimates indicate participation in team sports is declining, with a 10.7 percent decrease in soccer participation among 6-12 year-olds from 2008 to 2012 (Sport and Fitness Industry Association, 2013).
Recently, research identified the determinants responsible for facilitating fun in youth sports (Visek et al., 2015) and mapped the fun-determinants into what is known as the FUN MAPS. However, it is equally critical to identify the things impeding children’s fun. In order to identify the entire scope of fun-obstacles children experience and to understand how they are interrelated, youth soccer players (n = 144), parents (n = 52), and coaches (n = 48) contributed to the development of the NOT FUN MAPS. Workshop attendees will learn how to navigate the NOT FUN MAPS, which identify 91 fun-obstacles within 12 overarching factors that get in the way of fun.
The NOT FUN MAPS will also be discussed relative to the FUN MAPS and how both can be used as data-driven frameworks to position youth soccer communities with the necessary information for developing sport programs that maximize fun, thereby leading to children’s sustained participation, skill development, and personal growth through positive sport experiences.