ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights is how the starting point when coaching children should be the child, and not the sport. Children are a unique group of people who have specific development needs that are not shared by adolescents and adults. Children are introduced into organised sporting activities between about 4 to 8 years of age, although some may start at an even earlier age. Coaches are role models for young children, and their behaviours can either foster healthy development or contribute to attrition from sport at an early age. Coaches need to deliver activities that are enjoyable, challenging and promote perceptions of competence and belonging. Children join and leave sports clubs for several different reasons, but the influence of other children and coaches affects both decisions. Specifically, the perceptions children develop of these relationships are essential to participation motivation, and the relationships children form with their coaches and other children can contribute to the development of both desirable and undesirable outcomes.
