ABSTRACT
Over recent years, two significant developments have served to give physical exercise and sporting activities greater recognition and significance in the public eye. First, there has been a growing appreciation of the value of exercise for promoting health and general well-being; and second, in a period when leisure time is on the increase, sporting activities have come to be seen as a meaningful way of occupying non-working hours. These developments have their consequences for young people’s sport, or as Martens (1980) has written:
Improving the quality of youth sports programs is not a panacea to the nation’s problems: it will not significantly reduce crime, inflation, poverty or disease. But we do know that sports are an important part of many children’s lives, helping influence their socialization into adulthood. If we can help youngsters know the joy of sports, the benefits of a physically active life, and come to know themselves as worthy human beings, we may indeed be making a significant contribution to preventive medicine.
(p.385)