Exploring Creative Arts and Youth Sports Programming: A Qualitative Study

Increasing demands of youth sport participation has resulted in a lack of time for youth to engage in non-sport activities associated with positive youth development (PYD; West & Strand, 2016; Witt & Dangi, 2018). Though sport participation has the potential to increase positive PYD in participants, it is evident that sport participation alone does not generate PYD (Coakley, 2011). A positive environment, space to build internal assets, and continuous intentional, evaluative programs are a few of the components that may facilitate PYD in sport (Petitpas, Cornelius, Van Raalte, & Jones, 2005). When an appropriate development context is lacking, sport participation may actually lead to negative outcomes including intrapersonal (e.g. anxiety due to excessive criticism), interpersonal (e.g. parental pressure or lack of time to participate in other age-appropriate activities), or structural outcomes (e.g. overuse/burnout, cost, or lack of free play) (Witt & Dangi, 2018; Reverdito, et al., 2020). These risks may be particularly pronounced for athletes whose sole activity is sport. One way to address this is to provide non-sport activities as part of a sport program. For example, creative arts activities can enhance self-awareness (Perryman, Moss, & Cochran, 2015), improve communication (Moon, 2007), and decrease psychological distress (Ansari & Lalani, 2014). Further, creative arts can be sport related and built into sport program. Given the value of creative activities in PYD, and the potential lack of creative opportunities for athletes, it is important to examine if such activities are associated with PYD outcomes for athletes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the experience of participation in creative activities for youth athletes, with a specific focus on potential PYD associations. Fifteen current youth sport athletes engaged in an art-based activity, followed by a semi-structured interview. Findings suggest indicators of active engagement in creative art activities are distraction, reflection, expression, and relaxation. Further, when participants were actively engaged in creative arts, they perceived the following three benefits: 1) connection with teammates, 2) empowerment, and 3) positive identity. These findings provide practical implication for youth sport administrators as well as contribute to the limited body of literature on creative arts and youth sport programing.