PCA Colorado Impact and Retention Study

Study By:

Dr. Brett Nichols
PCA-Colorado Impact Study Lead
PCA Trainer (since 2013)
Kent State University/University of Northern Colorado Faculty
Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology/Sport Coaching

for

Jeff Dale
Vice President of National Advancement
Positive Coaching Alliance – Colorado

Sport is a unique domain where athletes can learn not just the fundamental and strategic skills in a sport, but also life skills that can become fundamentally part of an individual’s core values. Asking parents about the life lessons that they learned when they played sports quickly reveals answers like: persistence, teamwork, effective communication, respecting others, being on time, taking personal responsibility, dealing with adversity, gaining self-confidence, winning with humility, losing gracefully, learning from outcomes we don’t like, and learning how to give great effort. Long-term involvement in organized sports has been tied to these types of positive outcomes for youth (i.e., Hansen & Larson, 2007). Researchers in child and athlete development have also pointed to the possibility youth developing more specific life skills while playing sports such as developing a growth mindset (Dweck, 2006), developing grit (Duckworth, 2016), and learning how to be a true competitor (Shields & Bredemeier, 2009). On the other hand, specific research on dropout rates and retention rates in youth sports is limited (Anderson-Butcher, et al., 2022). In two longitudinal studies on dropout rates Vella and colleagues found that negative outcomes such as lower levels of long-term physical activity and greater future mental health concerns were connected to higher dropout rates of young athletes (Vella, et al., 2014; 2015). Given the potential life lessons that can be learned through organized sport, the prospect of dropping out of an organized sport also has the potential to diminish a young person’s chances of being exposed to these positive life lessons. While the possibility of children and youth athletes learning such lessons is real and has been a foundational part of the Positive Coaching Alliance movement for the past twenty-five years, the learning of these life lessons are only possible if there are adults in place that are committed to teaching these lessons to their athletes. Helping coaches and parents embrace this critical role in their young athletes’ lives has been and continues to be a foundational part of the PCA movement. Understanding how PCA’s influence, and support of athletes can help young people avoid potential negative outcomes and stay in sport longer, could be incredibly valuable as the PCA movement continues to grow. When focusing on the long-term development of young athletes, retention in sports is a key component in achieving positive outcomes (Anderson-Butcher, 2005). When kids stay in sport programs with positive environments, better outcomes will result (Anderson-Butcher, et al., 2022).

While the PCA content is supported by research and a host of experts in fields such as coaching, sport psychology, athlete development, child development, how can we know more about what is actually happening on the ground in our partner organizations? This study sought to deepen and widen PCA’s knowledge of our impact in Colorado. Specifically, this study was designed to learn more about the perspectives of our partners with regards to sport participation, PCA impact, athlete retention, and of both strengths and areas of growth for PCA in Colorado.

This study had three main objectives. The first of these objectives was to gain a better understanding of athlete participation and retention rates with various long-term PCA partners across Colorado. This involved understanding what participation looked like in these organizations; understanding the participants perceptions of their retention rates; and determining any key factors contributing to higher athlete retention. Questions to address this aim will include, but are not limited to: What do partners believe has been the impact of PCA training on athlete retention rates? Why do they believe athletes drop out of sport? What does athlete retention look like in their youth sport organization or school-based athletics program?

The second objective was to gain a better understanding of the impact of PCA trainings within these partner organizations, and then determine if the participants felt as though the PCA trainings and partnerships were a contributor to athlete retention in these organizations. Questions connected to this objective included: What do you feel is the overall impact of PCA in your organization? When thinking about youth sports and high school sports, how would you describe the connection between an organizations’ culture and athlete retention? What are some specific ways that you have seen PCA content help your coaches establish a positive culture on their teams/in your athletics programs?

The third objective was to provide a forum for current PCA partners in Colorado to share beneficial outcomes and feedback that they have experienced as part of their continued partnership with PCA. This objective was purposefully broad with the intention of eliciting information from partners that might be useful to PCA to continue to support these organizations in the most effective ways possible.

PCA’s mission is: To change the culture of youth sports so that every child, regardless of their social or economic circumstance, has access to a positive youth sports experience (positivecoach.org/mission-history).

Part of that positive sport experience is for youth athletes to learn many of the life lessons previously mentioned. In order to continue to bring this content to athletes of all social and economic circumstances, it is imperative to continue to demonstrate to PCA’s partners that youth who are exposed to the PCA content are benefitting from that partnership. This may be either directly through athlete training or by training coaches who are learning about and committed to using the content provided by PCA. Talking directly to partners about the impact that they see in their organizations is critical for PCA to understand what is happening on the ground. PCA-Colorado is taking the lead in doing just that, seeking to demonstrate to current and future PCA supporters that athletes immersed in positive PCA supported environments are playing their sport longer than they otherwise might. With the possibility of additional learning and growth every day, both as an athlete and as a person, the longer athletes continue in their sport the greater the potential impact for PCA and its financial supporters. Research has indicated that consistent long-term participation in youth sports provides the greatest possible benefits for young people, especially for youth in socially vulnerable communities (Anderson-Butcher et al, 2022). This study provides a crucial step in exploring the benefits of PCA training with regards to retention and/or program growth for PCA partner organizations in Colorado.

The fundamental design of this study involved primary and secondary components. Initially participants were sent surveys with open-ended questions regarding topics directly or indirectly connected to the impact of PCA trainings, the retention of athletes, and the use, implementation, and feelings about PCA content within their respective organization. Secondly, semi-structured follow-up interviews were conducted. Additional relevant data was collected as provided by study participants. There were three primary objectives in this study: 1) gain a better idea of the participation rates and athlete retention rates with various long-term/committed PCA partners across Colorado; 2) to examine the perception of PCA’s impact in these organizations and connect athlete retention rates to the perception of impact through their partnership with PCA; and 3) to provide a forum for this specific group of PCA partners in Colorado to share beneficial outcomes and feedback that they have experienced as part of their continued partnership with PCA.

The first step in this process was to identify participants. The lead researcher, Dr. Brett Nichols, met with Amy Manson (PCA Senior Program Manager – Central territory) and Tyler Johnson (PCA Partnership Manager – Mountain region) to discuss possible PCA-Colorado partners to include in this study. All partners needed to be youth sport organizations or school-based athletics programs. Initially partners who had been continuously partnered with PCA for the past 5 years were identified. One organization was eliminated as the structure of the organization did not fit into either the typical youth sport organization or school-based athletics department structure. Six organizations were identified as potential research participants. Amy and Tyler helped to identify the right person within each organization to contact. Then the two PCA-Colorado employees agreed to reach out to the best person in each of the selected partner organizations asking for their assistance with this study and introducing Dr. Nichols. Five of the six organizations agreed to participate. One ignored multiple inquiries and was subsequently dropped.

Once participants had been introduced to the project and had agreed to participate, the second step involved collecting the initial data. The five organizations that agreed to participate were sent an email by Dr. Nichols introducing the project in more detail, outlining what participation would entail, and including the initial survey. One high school athletics director completed the survey within a week, while the rest of the participants required multiple reminders to complete the survey. Using both emails and phone calls Dr. Nichols was able to get returned surveys from three individual participants. Jeff Dale, (PCA, Vice President for National Advancement) reached out several times to two individuals from organizations who had agreed to participate, and ultimately one of those individuals completed the survey as well.

The third step was to conduct follow-up interviews with individuals who completed the survey. Interviews were scheduled during a week in April when Dr. Nichols would be in Colorado to collect data. All of the participants who had completed the survey prior to the trip had an interview scheduled at some point during the week. Face to face interviews were conducted with five participants and two participants had interviews over the phone. One participant only completed the survey, due to a death in the family and a busy spring schedule.

Questions for follow-up interviews were based upon two primary criteria – to gain a deeper understanding of the participants perspective after reading his or her answers on their initial survey and/or to delve deeper into the topics involving PCA impact and key components of athlete retention. In several cases questions from the survey were asked again as participants occasionally skipped a question or provided a minimal response to a question on the survey. All participants were asked to explain more about why they think athletes drop out of their organization and the frequency with which this occurs. The semi-structured nature of the interviews was important as it allowed for the same general structure of the interview to occur for each of the participants, while allowing the interviewer the flexibility to ask follow-up questions specific to each particular interview. Each interview took approximately 15-20 minutes.

Data Collection

During this trip to Colorado, one additional PCA partner organization was added as a contributor to this project. This partner completed a survey and was interviewed during the week Dr. Nichols was in Colorado.

The final step in data collection was to ask for additional information regarding PCA impact, participation rates, retention rates and other related topics to this project. This was left open as a way to potentially provide additional support and potential validation to the answers provided by the study participants. Three athletics directors offered names and contact information of coaches, several of the leaders offered to share quantifiable data, and several others shared additional data as part of their interview. One middle school athletics director also asked a couple of impromptu questions to one of his middle school athletes who was finishing his lunch while the AD was taking Dr. Nichols on a tour of the school facilities.

Data Analysis

The data from the surveys were combined, color-coding each participant’s responses by question. The interviews were transcribed word for word. Dr. Nichols removed most of the irrelevant language in each of the interview transcripts, words such as right, um, like, so, and so on. This was done to make the transcripts flow more naturally without altering the meaning of the participants’ answers in any way. After the interviews were transcribed, the responses were added to a working document with both survey and interview data from all participants. Next, after reading through all of the data, Dr. Nichols created a list of possible themes that had emerged. This list was extensive and was created objectively without determining if a theme might have been good or bad. Then each survey response and interview answer were individually read and connected to any of the possible themes. After doing this with each individual data point, themes with the most support (i.e., connected responses) were identified. Eleven distinct and meaningful themes were identified. After identifying these themes, each was tied to one of the three objectives of this study.

Participants

The participants for this study were leaders of youth sport organizations, middle school or high school athletics directors, and coaches in the State of Colorado. All participants were leading organizations that were current PCA-Colorado partners and were identified as long-term partners (5+ consecutive years of partnership) or with multiple years of partnership with leaders who are highly committed to the implementation of PCA content in their organization. The latter of which included having multiple members on the PCA Colorado Leadership Council. Participants included two high school athletics directors, two middle school athletics directors, three youth sport directors, and one high school coach. Both middle school athletics directors were also coaching, as were at least two of the three youth sport directors.

The high school athletics directors had lengthy experience with high school sports. One had been an athletics director for more than a decade and had been at his current school for seven years. The other had been a coach for more than a decade and transitioned into athletics administration after coaching. He had been at his current school for 16 years and within the last couple of years transitioned into the role of athletics director.

One of the middle school athletics directors had also been at his school for more than 15 years. He eluded that he was one of the longest tenured individuals at his school, having coached kids of kids he coached in the past. The other middle school athletics director has been at his school for more than five years. All of the youth sport leaders had been coaching or working with kids for more than five years as well. Two of them were full-time employees for their organization, and the other was a volunteer board president. The high school coach had been at his school for between three and four years but had been working with athletes in his sport for most of the last decade. Five men and two women participated in this project. As a group this was a very experienced pool of individuals, with more than 10 years of experience on average working with athletes in various sports.

The selection of these individuals as outlined previously allowed for participants who could speak to PCA’s impact over time, the development of culture within their organization, and how retention of athletes may have changed over time. The goal was for these participants to be able to speak to a possible change in retention, have a grasp of the overall strength of their organization, and make potential connections to work that PCA may have done for their organization. Having new PCA partners or sport leaders new to their organizations would not have provided an opportunity to collect valid data to this end. While this certainly limited the pool of potential participants in Colorado that could participate in this study, it provided voice to an experienced group of sport leaders that had seen many different things within youth and high school sport in Colorado. This depth and breadth of knowledge provided additional credibility for the results of this study and made this an important group of PCA partners to provide an opportunity like this to share their voice.

Participants offered various opportunities to corroborate their responses. In one youth sport organization two full-time employees participated in this study. Both of the high school athletics directors attempted to connect Dr. Nichols with a coach from their school, one of which participated in this study. Both middle school athletics directors were a part of the same larger PCA partner. Several of the participants also provided data to support their opinions about participation rates, retention rates, and the overall athletics culture at their schools.

While the number of participants is admittedly small, the purpose of this study was not to quantify what is happening with numerical data. As a qualitative study, the purpose was to provide a forum for participants to share their experiences about the topics in their organizations. As such, this group of participants proved a knowledgeable, experienced, and thoughtful group which shared a wealth of data included herein.

No schools or identifying information are included in the results so as to protect the identities of the participants and provide the best possible opportunity for open and honest responses. All quotes have been attributed to each individual accurately and recorded with a pseudonym for the purpose of reporting the results.

There were three primary objectives in this study: 1) gain a greater understanding of athlete participation and of athlete retention rates with various long-term/committed PCA partners across Colorado; 2) to gain a better understanding of the impact of PCA trainings within these partner organizations, and then determine if the participants felt as though the PCA trainings and partnerships were a contributor to athlete retention in these organizations; and 3) to provide a forum for current PCA partners in Colorado to share beneficial outcomes and feedback that they have experienced as part of their continued partnership with PCA. More generally this last objective was to determine what else could be learned from this study.

To begin with, participants were asked to identify the top three reasons that they see athletes quit. The clear number one reason that these individuals reported athletes quitting was poor quality coaching. One athletics director mentioned coaching style; another mentioned pressure from coaches, and another mentioned not having a good relationship with the coach. Nearly all of the participants in this study mentioned a challenge with the coach as being one of the top reasons they see kids quit.

The second most common response was parent behaviors. Barrett said, “Parents are a big reason. They need to learn to sit back and just enjoy the game.” Harry mentioned the stress that parents put on their kids as a reason that he sees kids quit playing. About half of the participants mentioned parents as a contributor to their kids no longer playing.

The third response from this group was simply that outside activities became more important. For high school athletes, this might have been focusing more on their academics. Harry explained that he sees this taking place at times when this is combined with another factor. For example, when kids are having less fun, are playing less, or get injured, for some kids this mitigating factor becomes a reason to focus their time and efforts on something else.

The next most common response was a theme that emerged among the responses, and that was that there was some sort of logistical challenge that kept a child from continuing their participation. This included having a lack of transportation, the cost of participation, or even a lack of opportunity. Janie mentioned that she sees some kids that love playing the sport, but as they get older if their school does not offer it anymore, they simply do not know where to look to continue to play. She added that even if they can find a place to play, cost or transportation might be a barrier for that individuals’ continued participation.

The last theme that stood out among these answers about why athletes quit was burnout. There are many contributors to burnout such as the amount of stress athletes feel (Raedeke & Smith, (2004), disempowering sport environments (Into et al., 2020), and lack of enjoyment (Weinburg & Gould, 2024) are a few reasons this can occur. Harry said he saw burnout saying, “many students have been participating in their certain sport for such a long time, that they’re tired of it and no longer having fun.”

After compiling all of the data collected, comparing the responses, examining potential themes, and combining the data eleven different themes emerged. Four themes appeared to address the first objective of understanding participation numbers and retention rates of this particular group of youth and high school sport organizations. Those emerging themes were: 1) high participation and retention rates existed in these organizations; 2) having a positive, athlete-centered culture within these organizations/athletic departments was important; 3) having a positive culture was a key component of having high athlete retention; and 4) quality coaching was also a key component to having high athlete retention.

The second objective of this study was to understand the perception of the impact of PCA training and how those trainings were connected to retention rates in these organizations. The impact portion of this objective is primarily covered in this section, while additional depth on possible connections between PCA impact and retention rates will be explored in the subsequent discussion section. After analyzing the data, four themes also emerged appearing to fit underneath the breath of this objective. Those themes were: 1) PCA trainings have been impactful for these organizations; 2) PCA trainings have helped coaches in these organizations in developing better relationships with their athletes; 3) leaders and coaches in these organizations are effective communicators; and 4) coaches in these organizations praise effort.

The third objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of what was happening in these sport organizations and to gather information that could add additional depth to the topics in this study or identify information that could be useful for PCA in the continued partnership with each of these partners. There were three additional themes that emerged from the process of data collection and analysis. The first was that developing culture is not something that happens overnight, but rather it is a process. Secondly, these coaches were not immune to normal concerns or issues regarding athlete retention rates, but they seemed to face these retention issues much less than would have been expected. Third, this group of athletics directors, youth sport leaders, and coaches understand the big picture of sports and are effectively leading their organizations in a positive, athlete-centered approach.

High participation and retention rates

This study included several youth sport organizations, multiple middle schools, and two different high schools in various communities in Colorado. While numerous organizations reported having a dip in participation numbers during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the schools and organizations included in this study reported high levels of participation numbers. Danny, a middle school athletics director said, “We are in a place where between 80-85% of our students play at least one middle school sport each year.”

Harry, a high school athletics director said that his school had the highest participation numbers of all five schools in his school district across all of the sport seasons. Similarly, Lawrence indicated that his participation numbers had grown significantly over the past 5-7 years and were at or near the top of their district in nearly all different sports. Lawrence added, “I think a celebration for me is when you compare us to other high schools and the number of kids participating [is so high for us]. I am really proud of that stuff.”

As was the case for Lawrence, most of the organizations in this study shared indicators that their numbers had grown or stayed at about the same level as their pre-COVID numbers. Barrett said that his organization was one of the only organizations in his area that was able to continue to have a modified sport season for kids during the height of COVID. Barrett also reported a steady increase in participation numbers for all of his organizations’ sports from 2015 to 2019, and until the current season he had seen participation bounce back to near pre-COVID numbers.

One contributor to high participation rates for these organizations was the fact that they also had high retention rates. Janie, an experienced youth sport director said that their “retention is really high.” Eliza admitted that they did not have any comparative studies to look at how their retention rate might compare to other competing organizations, but that she saw very few kids that did not seem like they wanted to come back. Danny said about his middle school, “I don’t see kids quit here.” And Harry described his current situation as having to hire additional coaches after sport sign-ups because they had so many kids had registered and that they have multiple teams at the high school level for most sports – varsity, junior varsity, C, freshmen.

The importance of a positive athlete-centered culture

One of the contributing factors to these high participation numbers was the positive, athlete-centered culture that seemed evident across these organizations. According to Justin, “I think if you have that culture and a sense of belonging the athletes are going to want to really do well for their school.”

A different participant shared,

The culture in the athletic program is as important as kids’ interest in playing sports. Getting kids to want to come back and to keep playing and to increase your numbers, you have to have that welcoming culture. You have to have that positive culture from all sides. Not just the coaches, but from the kids. – Danny

Much of the focus at Harry’s high school was centered around the experience of his athletes. Jarrett mentioned making memories with his athletes on away trips and bonding being even more important than wins and losses. In a similar vein Lawrence said that his coaches are intentional about creating activities that are fun, promote team cohesion, give back to the community, and seek to develop positive relationships and ultimately help their athletes have a positive experience regardless of their success on the field or an athlete’s status on the team. Janie and Eliza talked at length in their interviews about how important the experience they facilitate for each of their kids. They explained the structures that they have created in their organization with the athletes’ best interests in mind, like not keeping score, not having standings or playoffs, and promoting an environment of togetherness with all of the teams.

Positive culture is critical for athlete retention

The consensus among this group was not only that having a positive, athlete-centered culture was important, but also that having such a culture is critical in retaining athletes. Janie said, “I think the culture plays a huge role in retention, is it only about winning or keeping kids in the game [these are] two very different goals with different strategies.”

Lawrence also felt strongly about the importance of culture with regards to athlete retention, saying,

…culture has a major impact on player retention, their sense of community, their sense of belonging, their sense of feeling a part of something. I think obviously it starts from the athletic program then through the coaches. We talk a lot about whether a kid is your star player, is your kid that cheers from the bench, how do we ensure that they all have a great experience? And [that] they are promoting your program when they leave it.

In Danny’s middle school, he reported this about culture and retention,

It’s 1 to 1… In our situation, I think so much of our retention comes from our belief in each team being a program, not just something you do for five or six weeks. It is something you commit to and hopefully get a chance to play if not two years out of three, maybe if you are one of the more talented players you might be able to make one of those middle school teams as a sixth grader.

Eliza shared her youth sport perspective, that if culture is not positive then kids are not likely to return, saying,

If it is not enjoyable, then more than likely it is going to impact your return rate. Right? If I’m not having a good time, I am not coming back – I’m not playing for, whether it is that coach, with those kids, or whatever it was – which is the culture that made me kind of unpleasant in the first place.

Harry summed up his response to the connection between culture and retention as simply as,

“Oh, it’s the number one factor.”

Quality coaching is key to building culture and key to retention

While a positive, athlete-centered culture was critical and an important component in retaining athletes in their programs/organizations, the participants in this study also reported that having quality coaching was key to both a positive culture and athlete retention. When asked about keeping athletes on their teams Harry said,

My first thought would be around quality coaching. You’d not only want top notch coaches who know the sport, but you also want top notch human beings leading your programs. You want coaches who understand what it means to be “transformational” and many times that’s way more important than what they know about the sport because this is going to help create a positive environment.

Harry came back to the quality of his coaching repeatedly in his interview emphasizing the importance of this for his athletes. At one point adding,

One way that really stands out to me has been with our coach creating more inclusive environments. Through the focus of being more transformational, coaches have a better understanding that each player is a valuable member of the team. They create a more positive environment by simply understanding the value of student athletes and work harder to bring out the best of each student athlete.

Lawrence added,

Our girls’ basketball program recently made a run to the final four of the State Tournament. At a breakfast celebration, girls expressed the power of building team and the relationship of the coaching staff completely transforming their experience and love for the sport.

For his girls basketball team the coaches being transformational was as important or more than the fact that they finished the season as one of the state’s top teams.

Several participants also mentioned getting the right coaches in place has been critical to building their cultures at their schools or in their organizations. Harry mentioned having to let coaches go who did not share his values and replacing them with like-minded individuals who are committed to the holistic development of each athlete on their team. When describing the key concepts that Harry expects his coaches to use, he said,

The one concept that comes to mind right away is that of having a growth mindset. This falls on both the coaches and the student athletes. Coaches must have a growth mindset to keep on current trends, best practices, understanding today’s student athlete, etc. Having a growth mindset has allowed for our coaches to be willing to learn new things which should then turn around and make their programs better. I supply them with resources, such as PCA, and challenge them to get better for themselves and the sake of their programs. If coaches are willing to grow, then they project that onto their programs. It’s then important for coaches to communicate personal growth to their student athletes through modeling. Student athletes then have a better understanding for the need to have a growth mindset when it comes to something as simple as wanting to learn and get better.

When thinking about the coaches he has now as compared to some of the coaches he used to have in his school, Danny explained the improvement in the quality of coaching in this way:

I think the biggest thing, the biggest takeaway is, I think a lot of coaches have gone from a my way or a highway attitude to a ‘you’re part of this’ you’re not, I’m not just the coach, I’m part of this. The kids have to buy in and be part of it…

…When a kid sees a coach as a teacher and role model they will work hard. Kids who see the coaches focus and buy in are much more likely to give their all. They will begin to connect with each other as well and become a true team.

In Barrett’s youth sport organization, he framed his situation as a reason why sometimes poor coaching ends up driving kids away from the sport, saying,

And then I think on the other side too is the quality of coaching. We try to get the best people we can, but a lot of times, especially in the younger levels, it’s first parent up, we need somebody to coach.

The second objective in this study was to examine the perceptions of the impact of PCA trainings and specifically to target how these trainings may or may not contribute to the retention of student-athletes in these organizations. Four key themes were identified and connected to this objective. First, participants believe that PCA training was impactful for their organization. The second theme was that the PCA training helped coaches develop better relationships with their athletes. The third theme that was identified was that leaders and coaches in these PCA partner organizations were effective communicators. Lastly, coaches in these organizations praise effort often and effectively.

Impact of PCA trainings

It was very clear that all of these organizations strongly valued PCA training, the principles that PCA focuses on, and how this can contribute positively to their organization. Barrett said that he believed that the training has “positively impacted coaches” in his organization. He went further saying, “I think the biggest impact is with the coaches and then in turn a majority of the players experience this which is great.”

Danny said about the impact of PCA training, “I feel as if the coaches focus has become more about the kids than the outside influences.”

According to Victor, “For new coaches it provides a positive perspective of coaching and provides tools for them to implement.”

Harry responded saying,

The Positive Coaching Alliance workshops that we’ve participated in over the years have really served as a cause for self-reflection. When hearing and speaking about the impact coach behaviors have on their programs, coaches are forced to reflect on their practices. Coaches are taught how to be more transformational within their practices and really focus on the role they have in developing student athletes. They’re also taught to be more aware of what the student athlete brings to the program as a person and not just a player. Over the years, our coaches have also focused more on the power of positivity and have gained a better understanding of a more positive approach builds trust within your program, which then leads to a better team culture, and allows for student athletes to not be afraid to take chances and risks.

Lawrence, one of the high school athletics directors said,

Most of our work has been with head coaches. PCA has helped coaches enhance the quality of running a program. Provided them with specific examples on building team culture, feedback systems, and effective communication.

Barrett, a leader, who also coaches in his organization said, PCA trainings have “helped me grow into a positive coach where kids want to come back and play for me year after year.”

One of the high school athletics directors, Lawrence, also shared that,

[Our school] is experiencing its greatest success on the court and field in the history of the school. PCA has played a pivotal role in developing a culture based on building culture, chemistry, and talent…

…PCA has provided real world experiences and examples for coaches and parents. There is a direct correlation to our athletes in separating from the individualistic focus to a culture of team. Coaches are intentional in their building of team, implementing effective communication during practices and providing individual feedback in order to build a sense of team…

…Modeling, our kids model the behaviors, emotions, and actions of our coaches on the sidelines. PCA has helped coaches recognize their impact on the sidelines…

…We have seen a direct shift in focus on team building and player leadership.

Victor shared that if he was rating the impact of PCA trainings on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being low and 10 being high, “when coaches use the tools provided, it is always a 10.”

The participants in this study also shared the PCA tool(s) that they found to be most effective with their athletes. According to Danny,

ROOTS is the best tool to help kids become better people through athletics. When kids realize their role and importance as the athlete and show respect for all involved, they have learned their part of sport.

Eliza thought, “the mistake ritual and the sportsmanship elements are what I would say we see most frequently here.” At the high school level, Lawrence said he had seen quite a few of his coaches using,

Beginning of practice share outs on emotions and what we are bringing to practice. End of practice group texting and motivational quotes. Individual feedback for athletes and role definition.

Danny talked about the major difference that PCA has made in the entire culture of their school district with the sportsmanship towel exchange program.

“PCA and its focus on sportsmanship in our organization (league) has helped so many kids understand the importance of their opponents and have grown to respect them instead of seeing them as just the team you want to beat. Our conversations when the teams pick the opponent who showed the greatest level of sportsmanship helps them see each other as people and are able to recognize positive things in their opponents…

…The sportsmanship towel and everything involved in it has been the most important impact of PCA in our league and my school.

Harry agreed that PCA’s content on sportsmanship was an important focal point at his school,

Another simple PCA concept that helps with a more positive culture is by “honoring the game.” When coaches teach this concept there’s a better overall appreciation for everything the sport is about. Understanding the respect by athletes, coaches, and parents plays a huge role in creating a positive culture. The used acronym of ROOTS and respecting rules, opponents, officials, teammates, and self, creates a more positive culture within our programs.

Victor also saw the impact of PCA through sportsmanship but added an additional focal point with his middle school teams. “One key aspect is the tools provided to assist with parent communication and most of all sportsmanship.” Danny agreed, “parents tend to be more calm and communicative as we all increase our skills around all things kid’s sports.”

Barrett also reflected on the PCA impact over nearly a decade in his organization by
saying,

You see how a lot of the coaches that take this stuff to heart go out there and act. Some of them kind of write it off. It’s not that they are bad people, they just don’t buy into the whole thing all the time. We have a lot of them that do. When it comes to that I think we have 95 percent of our coaches are doing what’s right by the kids and players.

Eliza shared what her organization had uncovered with regard to the positive impact of PCA concepts being integrated into her organization. She said,

we interviewed some kids on film this year, and I would say that like 3 out of 4 of them said it doesn’t even matter if we lose because we are out here having a great time. And so, I think those types of comments speak very directly to what PCA does or what PCA is about.

It was not that winning didn’t matter, but that the enjoyment of playing, being part of a team, and the overall experience outweighed any focus on the possible outcome for these kids.

PCA trainings help coaches develop relationships with athletes

The next theme that was identified and connected to the second objective of this study was that coaches in these organizations are committed to developing positive relationships with athletes. Participants shared that not only did they value this as leaders, and their coaches emphasized this, but that PCA trainings were directly connected to this coach development in their organizations. According to Harry,

The overall concept of a more positive approach to coaching has had a huge impact on the relationships between coaches and student athletes. As mentioned earlier, when coaches work to create a more positive approach, the levels of anxiety, fear, stress, etcetera decrease dramatically for the student athlete. This then allows for them to take more “risks” in what they do within their sport and not really have the worries of an “off the handle” response from a coach…

…A simple example on the development of better relationships is the concept of the “emotional tank.” Human beings love to feel appreciated and wanted. Our coaches have a clearer understanding of student athlete emotions and how you can affect them both positively and negatively. We’ve had more coaches focusing on creating positive relationships and being more of a “cheerleader” for our student athletes. At the same time, as an Athletic Director, I must understand the value of the emotional tank when working with coaches. They too like to have their “ego stroked” and be given positive feedback on what they’re doing. I have a coach what I haven’t worked with in over 7 years who will still text and say, ‘I really need my E-tank filled, Coach Harry’. That’s when I know he must be going through something, and I’ll give him a call.

For Danny developing relationships with athletes was a key component in coaching at his middle school. He provided evidence of this in the ways that he and his coaches value athlete input, saying,

I think giving the athletes more voice. I think has really helped. I came from a line of coaches where this was really important to them. And this is in the 80s, which is really surprising. I think that has helped so much. The understanding that they do have good things to say. And they do see things and understand things in a different way than we do. And just by being in the middle of it, what they are experiencing is different. So I think one example is, halftime soccer the first person I ask is the goalie. You are the only person on the field that can see the whole field and can watch what is happening and not have to turn very much to see that. I think giving them a voice also is going to foster that commitment, foster their understanding of their importance.

Lawrence repeatedly came back to relationship building as something that PCA had really helped improve with his high school coaches. He said PCA has helped to train “coaches on creating purposeful and meaningful relationships with athletes. This is particularly evident with lower-level coaches.” Furthermore, according to Lawrence,

PCA has provided specific examples for implementing relationship building into practice plans. Several athlete reflection moments at the beginning and end of practices. Ideas for building relationships off the court or field…

For Victor as a middle school athletics director the key to relationship building that PCA had helped to strengthen for him, and his coaches was through communicating effectively with the athletes. “When coaches uphold expectations, it provides clear expectations which makes sure all athletes know. Students love clear expectations as it creates a sense of fairness.”

Eliza also shared the sentiment that many of her coaches had improved their ability to develop relationships with their athletes through their work with PCA. She shared two recent examples when asked about this,

There’s a coach, he’s a janitor, yeah, he’s a janitor at his school. It is so obvious that these kids have this bonding connection to him, that maybe they don’t with some of their classroom teachers. Every interaction that I’ve seen him out here having is very optimistic, positive, and focused on the objective that we are coming here to play soccer and get some work out and have a great time out here today. And he has just leaned into it hard, right? And I see everybody doing that, but I’ll be honest, the coach mentors are also human beings, so once in a while we experience some slip ups. Like, just this last weekend I had a dean walk across my field hollering at one of my referees. I was like, “what are you doing?” [Laugh] “That’s not how we do things here.” [Laughs] And that individual had probably not been to one of our more recent PCA trainings. To their credit, they emailed me with an apology later in the week.

Eliza also mentioned that they work on relationships between the kids and that PCA training has helped coaches with this as well,

…you definitely see a lot of high fives. I think another thing that has improved is that at the end of the game we require teams to line up to shake hands and we monitor that process. Because we want to look for good behavior and acknowledge positive sportsmanship and those kinds of interactions.

Ultimately, Harry summed up his perspective on building relationships with athletes – that PCA training contributes to as,

The positive approach created by coaches builds stronger relationships within the program and, in turn, the student athletes will want to be more dedicated, work harder, play for each other more, and so on.

Leaders and coaches in these organizations are effective communicators

Another theme that emerged during this study was that these leaders seemed to be effective communicators. Furthermore, their perception was that many of their coaches also demonstrated effective communication. Danny shared, “I think PCA has helped our coaches on the communication side with both kids and parents.”

Victor strongly emphasized communication as a key in his leadership role. “As the AD all of our families know the expectation of parent behavior. I set this tone with families at back-to-school night and with my beginning of season email to families.” Victor also mentioned that he makes a point to communicate effectively with his coaches and in turn this opens positive lines of communication between coach and athletics director. He said, “when I’m not coaching, I observe my coaches’ practices and provide feedback. Furthermore, “all of my coaches ask for advice when dealing with situations.”

Lawrence brought up several ways that his coaches emphasize communication with their athletes. One thing he said was, “the most effective [thing] has been the individual communication and taking the time to have a 1 on 1 conversation with athletes.” Lawrence also described how his coaches practice communication, in that they were “intentional in their language and actions in practice.” He went on to say that his coaches meet with team leaders and talk through “opportunities [for athletes] to lead or define leadership in their programs.”

Eliza shared a great, recent example of a coach communicating effectively with one his athletes,

I saw this with a goalkeeper just the other day. It was at a practice session and this kid was getting, like, not making any saves. It was like, goal, goal, goal, goal [laugh], goal, and coach was like ‘do you want to take a break?’ ‘No.’ Goal, goal, goal, goal. “How are you holding up? You’re doing great. It’s fine, you’re tracking the ball. Maybe we can focus on this. And the approach that this specific coach took was just…it was like very specific to that [things under kid’s control], right. Essentially offering the opportunity for this student-athlete to make a decision for themself. And I think for me that is so empowering as a coach, because you could be like ‘go take a break, right.’ But that is not what was used, it was like, ‘would you like to?’ That would be like a specific example.

Harry also emphasized the importance of communication throughout his contributions to this study. This was on an administration to coach level, a coach-to-coach level, a coach to player level, and also with parents. Effective communication could occur through direct and conversational means, over email, text, or media, or even through modeling.

Parent behavior has indirectly been impacted by PCA through the actions of our coaches. We spend time talking about coaching behavior and how that impacts the behaviors within the stands and away from the game. If our coaches can set an example of leading by example, our parents would have a better chance of following suit when it comes to our student athletes. – Harry, high school athletics director

Harry seemed to indicate that these various levels of effective communication at his school ultimately served the best interests of his athletes at all levels, in all sports.

Coaches in these organizations praise effort

Another thing that was repeatedly described by the participants was how coaches in these organizations praise the efforts of their athletes. Janie said that feedback from their coaches was “definitely effort versus where they needed to be or how they are tactically doing. It was good job being out there.” Eliza confirmed that in this organization effort was often applauded. Also, with regards to a different youth sports arena Barrett shared, “I see this a lot. Effort is praised often.”

At the middle school level Danny shared this example,

…7th grade basketball player and coach chatting about the importance of academics. Kid making excuses for missing schoolwork and the coach asks him to tell him some things within his control and the kid lists off few things and the coach asks him about attitude and effort. It took a bit, but he realized those two can have a positive effect on school as well as sport.

Victor shared a similar perspective,

When watching my girl’s basketball coach, she did a great job at coaching our students the importance of effort during practice. This correlates directly to our students both on and off the field/court.

Harry said that his coaches are deliberate about making effort a point of emphasis, saying,

I’d see a lot of this coming through discussion and demonstration. Our coaches discuss what it means to give great effort. They help student athletes gain a better understanding of what great effort may look like by having team discussions and sharing ideas. However, I think the most impactful way to teach great effort is to call it out when a coach sees it. Praise is a magical thing and the more they can give the more the student athlete is going to seek it. When giving praise, I also encourage coaches to find something in every student athlete to praise. It may be one small thing, which receives encouragement, that will push a student athlete to want to excel even more…

…We have a lot of coaches continually talk about “controlling the controllables.” Those are a couple of things such as attitude and effort. If student athletes can gain a better understanding on their attitude and effort many of them would experience tremendous success in all that they do.

Part of this project was to provide an opportunity for sport leaders and coaches at the youth, middle school, and high school level share their voice about athlete retention, the culture within their programs, the impact of PCA training, and how coaches effectively use PCA training with their athletes in these organizations. The third objective was purposefully broad, allowing these participants to share whatever else they might feel was important and to see what additional themes might emerge. These participants shared a wealth of information and three distinct and important themes rose to the top. The first was that the development of a strong, positive, athlete-centered culture is a process. The second theme was that these organizations are not immune to the typical issues regarding retention, but they face those common denominators less than would be expected. The final theme was that the survey participants truly understand how to develop, cultivate, and maintain an athlete-centered culture in their organizations.

Developing culture is a process

There is no overnight easy fix to culture. Developing a positive, athlete-centered culture takes commitment, patience, buy-in, and perhaps most of all time. Harry shared that in his seven years as athletics director at his high school, one of the important culture building components was having the right people in place as coaches. He said that when he first came to his school there were some coaches that just did not fit with the way he runs an athletics department and that getting his department to the right place meant having coaches either get on board or having them move on. Harry shared that this did not happen overnight, and some coaches were able to change ways that they were doing things and after a couple of years those who did not were relieved from their coaching posts. He shared a recent example where making a coaching change to get the right person in place made a big difference for the girls on the team,

The most recent example is the hiring of a new girl’s soccer coach. In asking the players how preseason workouts are going and how the season is starting off, I’m constantly hearing how much better it is. They express how much more organized practices are, how they’re doing more as a team and getting to know each other, and how these simple things lead to a better environment/culture. The positive experiences are wanting these girls to do more for each other, for themselves, and for their coaches.

Harry used the term “like-minded” with regards to the approach his coaches had. He expressed the time it took to make sure that coaches were in place who shared his athlete-centered perspective.

I brought more PCA I guess seven years ago when I got here. Our school district uses PCA for coaching trainings just in general. It’s one of those boxes that they have to check off – for [our district]. But it’s a PCA in person class. But over the years, I have bought, I have purchased three additional classes each year, where I have brought additional instructors in. We tend to go for like two for coaches and have one of those meetings for our student-athletes. So that they are familiar with the language and all that is being used – the concepts, right? So, seven years ago when I got here, just having a history with PCA from my previous school, we really started hitting it harder. And when that became consistent, and when coaches understood the message that I wanted delivered, and the overall culture of the athletic department, buy-in increased. Over the years, there have been coaching changes, and those are just coaches that don’t align with our standards and our expectations. And for the majority that’s who I am comfortable with. The expectations are my own for our [high school] community. So as more and more coaches have bought in and our cultures have gotten better, we have more and more kids. I think out of the five schools in our district, I think our numbers are the highest for student participation in athletics. In all three seasons. We’ve got a lot of levels for all of our varsity programs. So, it’s a great problem!

At the middle school level, Danny also shared that he had seen coaches come and go, but over time the coaches that remained were coaches that shared his commitment to his athletes and the overarching athlete-centered perspective. Having been at his school for a long time, he acknowledged the positive changes and growth that he had seen in his athletics department, while also admitting that these changes occurred with some attrition from the coaching ranks, additional training for coaches, and time for changes to be evident.

Eliza described how the process of integrating PCA concepts into the development of their culture has happened,

Oh, this I think we have seen a big shift, from one season over [to the next] season. We had a lot of coach mentors who had participated in the program pre-COVID, our first season back, and had adapted some of their own habits, and probably had a little bit more of a competitive edge to them. And when we introduced PCA it took a couple of seasons to even watch some of the more seasoned coaches shift their culture and their approach to the game. One thing I can remember very closely from our second season is there were a couple of schools whose players – like if the other team didn’t have enough players, they didn’t want to go and shift over to the other team and support and sub for them. And the coaches early on were condoning that, like “fine, if you don’t want to go, then don’t go.” We no longer have that problem. Now it has become a part of the culture, if the other team is short, we are going to maximize our playing minutes, we are going to share our players with them. That is now part of the culture of this specific program.

Eliza and Janie both expressed the change that they have seen since they started with their organization and also as they started to really utilize PCA content in their organization. Another more specific PCA related example that Eliza shared was,

…we use the PCA checklist. And I do a lot of that preseason with the coaches. It’s hard to get all…there are like 8 or 10 items on that list. And last season I sent that out every week to our coaches. And said like, “how are you doing? How are you doing on this checklist? And so, it’s interesting cause it’s hard to hit all of them all of the time. And then at the end of the season I had them self-assess. Did you use this? Was this useful? How often did you implement this? And you see a change from preseason to postseason on the frequency of usage of a tool like that.

Barrett explained that the continued partnership with PCA helps new coaches with tools to help reach the kids that they are coaching, but also to help returning coaches continue to hone their coaching skills. He shared that the strong attendance at their latest PCA workshop was a strong indicator that there were quite a few coaches committed to the process of getting better.

Normal issues with retention exist, but these organizations face them less often

All of the participants in this study shared reasons why they see athletes quit in their organizations. As previously reported in this study some of the common reasons they perceived that athletes quit were due to coaching behaviors or poor-quality coaching, pressure from parents or parent behaviors, other activities become more important, logistical challenges, and kids burn out. These reasons kids quit are not unique to these organizations. Burnout as kids move into upper levels of normal sport participation, like high school, is not uncommon. Justin identified burnout as something that he has seen with both baseball and softball players,

I think that some of them just get so worn out that they have devoted so much time, and parents have put so much money, so they do it because their parents have put so much money into it, not because they have the love for the game.

Harry had a similar perspective with regards to things he had seen. He said, “We can control the experience our student athletes have within our programs, but we can’t control what happens at home.” The experience at home could be positive, or it could be filled with pressure on a high school athlete. At a different high school, Lawrence said that he sees athletes who are

really struggling with the lack of playing for the big picture of athletics, sense of community, pride of school and pure enjoyment of sport versus the pressures of feeling like they need statistics, personal success in order to get recruited.

For Barrett’s organizations there were some unique factors that led to regular attrition, like having many transient military families in their community. While he acknowledged that was a factor for their organization, he also said that sometimes the reason he sees kids not return in his organization is more due to coaching. “I still see some coaches struggle. Specifically, the ones that basically get volun-told they are coaching. They are often under-prepared.” He added that volunteer coaches who do not really know what they are doing are particularly challenging as kids get older and the skills to teach increase in their level of difficulty. Barrett admitted that this at times has a negative impact on an athlete’s experience and their desire to continue.

While these are all things that the participants had seen, the overwhelming majority of these individuals was consistent with Janie’s statement that “retention is really high here” and with Danny’s direct response, “I don’t see kids quit here.” For more on this refer back to Objective 1 – Theme 1 regarding participation and retention rates for these organizations.

Participants in this study understand & value a positive, athlete-centered sport experience

One after the other participants in this study shared their belief that creating a positive environment was of the greatest importance. These leaders valued this as a part of the athletic department and organizational culture that they were building. Victor shared that he and his coaches work to tap “into the emotional aspect of our athletes. Understanding that there is more to it than just winning.” Harry expressed his belief that, “athletics is about so much more than just winning and losing, and you can only hope that parents understand that.” Both Eliza and Janie expressed the importance of thinking about the overall experience of their athletes in coach development, the expectations of their organization, the communication with the parents, and the bombardment and consistency of their messaging. When asked about this Eliza answered, “yeah [it’s about], player development.”

There seemed to be a perspective consistent within these sport leaders. Barrett described his understanding of this saying,

I think the PCA part is half of it. I think the other half is really helping coaches understand what and how they need to teach. And skill development for a kid at a certain age…and part of the problem is that we are so overloaded with information nowadays that you find 50 different ways to teach a kid to hit a ball off a tee or something. You have to find that person that can say, ‘this is how you have to explain it to a 4-year-old’. No, you are not going to sit there and break down the swing into ten different parts. You are going to look at it from maybe one or two to help them learn.

Another way that the participants from these organizations seemed to value a positive, athlete-centered experience was that they seemed too often make decisions or set up structures in their organizations that were contradictory to trends in youth and high school sport in our country. For example, Eliza shared that they “try not to keep score.” She added, “Nobody’s winning a trophy. We are out here to play, to have a good time, to get a good workout in, to develop ourselves as soccer players.” Janie shared that they have no playoffs, they just play games until the season comes to an end.

Barrett said that helping coaches understand the time that they have with their athletes is an important thing to understand so that they can meet the athletes where they are at. More specifically he shared,

I think a lot of it too, is planning for practices and that kind of thing. Tee-ball, four- and five-year-olds, 45 minutes to an hour is long enough. What are you going to accomplish during that time? You need parents to help. One person can’t run around with ten four-year olds, it just doesn’t work. But a lot of them don’t know that. I say that because I’ve done it ten times now with kids and I know I need help with all of this.

Both Justin and Harry talked about the importance of developing multi-sport athletes at the high school level. Justin claimed, “We talk a lot here at [our high school] about multi-sport athletes and the benefit for it.” As a high school athletics director, Harry came out and said,

The culture of our building is that we are going to share athletes. We are going to promote multi-sport athletes if that’s what our students want to do. And we are going to support them in that endeavor. And the biggest example now is this year the State of Colorado, the bylaws for Sunday contact changed. So, we used to not be able to have Sunday contact. This year they started having Sunday contact if you are out of season. So, currently Sunday contact there is football practice. Obviously, it is not padded or anything like that happening for an hour and a half on Sundays. Through a simple discussion and just shared beliefs the football coach knows that the spring kids, they’re not coming to Sunday practices.

Danny and his middle school coaches try to let kids know how important they are in the process. For him it was giving the athletes a voice and coaching in a way that recognized and appreciates that,

…the kids work harder when it is something that they bring to the table. I am all about adding things. I will be the first to say I don’t know everything. Even after 30 years in the business, I still learn something from a kid every day. And letting them understand that and know that is kind of cool.

The sport leaders included in this project also expressed the desire for their athletes to enjoy what they are doing and had a positive perspective on kids being kids. Justin said,

And I think, I say it all of the time, these sports, baseball, softball, these are kids’ games, right? If you are not having fun, then what are you doing it for? We see these people who devote their whole lives to it, and yeah, they are making millions of dollars doing it. It’s their job. I think Jokic had the best interview after winning the championship, like can I go back to Serbia, right? And it was like, but you just won and it’s basketball, and it’s a great game. And he’s like, it’s my job, I don’t like going to work every day. And I don’t want sports to be a job for kids. We have the rest of our lives to work. Enjoy being a kid while you can.

Harry did not seem thrilled with the State of Colorado changing the rules to allow Sunday practices. He added for his athletes that football players in spring sports are not coming to Sunday practices because,

…we want to avoid the burnout. And you also want them to be kids. Give them a day off. They are already doing things six of the other days, right? So, we’ve done a really good job on the burnout.

In distress, Lawrence described the greatest girls’ basketball season in school history and sitting recently with the best player who was in tears feeling like she wasn’t measuring up to the pressures of recruiting and expectations of others. He said,

…where are you feeling this pressure? You should be celebrating. You should be happy. So, I just try to really, I just try to watch our kids. And of course I listen to parents, and it is such an intense environment that they perform in. And I just wonder, just watching them, do they have any fun? Like is it fun to them?

Wanting to see their kids enjoy what they were doing was something that Janie, Eliza, and Barrett also expressed.

Why kids quit

The participants in this study reported that they think kids quit for a variety of distinct reasons. One of the important takeaways regarding what they reported was that the reasons that they think kids discontinue their sport participation are not any different than what we see across the country in 2024. The top two reasons that they believe kids quit were poor-quality coaching and parent induced stress and behaviors. These are both areas of continued opportunity for PCA as coach and parent education are at the forefront of what PCA does. Interestingly, these sport leaders believed that the reasons that kids might quit do not exist as much for them as it might elsewhere. This was indicative of the positive, athlete-centered cultures that I heard a great deal about from these leaders.

Creating a positive athlete-centered culture

The participants in this study represented three distinct levels of sport: youth, middle school, and high school. While the athletes that they serve are at different places in their growth and development, all of the participants were committed to developing and maintaining a positive athlete focused culture in their organizations. Danny’s statement about culture embodied his own beliefs, but also the shared belief of all of these sport leaders when he said,

The culture in the athletic program is as important as kids’ interest in playing sports. Getting kids to want to come back and to keep playing and to increase your numbers, you have to have that welcoming culture.

In PCA workshops, one of the defining statements that is presented is Culture = The Way We Do Things Here. These leaders talked at length about how they had developed their culture. Harry gave the example of how making a coaching change made a huge difference for one group of athletes recently and he described the process of building culture by training coaches, getting everyone on the same page, and moving on from coaches whose values are not consistent with the direction of their athletics department. The position that these coaches collectively presented was that the way that they do things is about athlete experiences first, their long-term development, and that the athletes have fun. PCA’s research-based content promotes the long-term development of athletes with its’ focus on striving to win (focusing on the process not the outcome) and the life lessons that kids can take from their sport experience. One of the keys to this is that adults must be intentional about and committed to teaching these life lessons to kids, as this is critical to kids learning them. These leaders provided many examples of their intentionality to this end. In the culture that these sport leaders had developed and were committed to maintaining, athletes seemed to have many opportunities to learn these life lessons. When kids are playing sports in positive environments more successful outcomes exist (Anderson-Butcher, et al., 2022).

Janie and Eliza talked about how athletes, coaches, and parents all understand what to expect when they walk through the doors – that the experience of their kids is central to what they do. This is a great example of an established culture. When Danny took me on a tour of his middle school, he randomly introduced me to one of his middle school athletes and asked him about what he thought of the sportsmanship towel exchange. The athlete said that it was really cool, and it helps everyone know that even though they are competing hard against their opponent in the game that they are actually competing with them. The recognition of another opponent afterwards is a reflection that we are all together in this sport on this given day. This impromptu dialogue reflected the existing culture. And it is exactly what Shields & Bredemeier (2009) found is emblematic of a true competitor – not striving to beat, demean, or degrade their opponent, but rather to strive for excellence together and elevate the performance for each, but also the long-term positive experience.

Participants in this study seemed to genuinely believe that a positive experience for kids is what youth, middle school, and high school sports are all about. Barrett talked about meeting kids where they are at; Harry mentioned giving teenagers an opportunity to be a part of something; and Eliza described the joy-filled experiences of so many of her athletes. In a recent Leading Your Athletics Department workshop I facilitated, we talked about culture being from the top down. And that if you do not have culture from the top down, it will default from the bottom up.

The intentional nature of culture creation was consistently reported. Victor talked about setting clear expectations with coaches and parents; Danny described how all of his constituents just know what he’s about; and Lawrence described helping his coaches incorporate positive culture building activities in their coaching. These sport leaders described ways that they and their coaches focus on effort. Victor provided the example of his girls’ basketball coach doing this well and often. Harry described how his coaches use the phrase “controlling the controllables” to help athletes focus on their effort. And Danny provided an example of a coach talking to one of his athletes about how effort might translate in the classroom.

The focus that these sport leaders had on helping their athletes focus on their effort was just one of the ways these participants reported valuing a positive athlete-centered environment. Another of these ways was with the focus on building relationships with their athletes. In the revised Developing Competitors through Positive Coaching workshop that PCA offers, the foundational piece of all that we do as coaches is developing trusting relationships with our athletes. If athletes don’t trust a coach, they are less likely to listen to them. As a result, the athlete will not be in a position to learn and grow. These leaders appeared to be teaching this to their coaches, emphasizing this within their organization, and ultimately seemed to be looking out for their athletes.

For these organizations, a positive culture leads to greater athlete retention

It makes sense that in a sport environment where building relationships is paramount, coaches are praising effort, and a positive athlete-centered culture exists that athletes tend to play longer. Harry described this in these terms,

…the cultures that we create drive our success. And when people ask me when I look for, what defines success for me, in my role it is participation numbers, because that is going to tell me if it is a healthy culture or not. And a perfect example, right now we are in a spring season and our girls tennis team has 60 girls. We had to add a coach a week after the season had started when we saw the participation numbers, because kids wanted to be a part of it. And the same thing with girls’ soccer. Girls soccer is at 60 girls. Because one slight change in the dynamics of the coaching staff with the head coach had a major shift in our culture and kids wanted to be a part of it.

The PCA principle ELM tree of mastery is used to explain how a focus on “Effort” “Learning” and “Mistakes are growth opportunities” will lead to more positive outcomes. These PCA concepts are based on research on focused on achievement goals as an important driver of motivation in sport and exercise (Dweck 1986; Maehr & Nicholls, 1980; Nicholls, 1984; Roberts, 2012) and the idea that a task-oriented focus (Dweck, 1986) is more beneficial for long-term successful outcomes. This Mastery focus is also better for more long-term participation. Athletes are more motivated to work hard, compete, and come back for more when the focus is on their ability to do their best. This was the prevailing view from these sport leaders.

With the high levels of retention that were reported, along with the participation numbers described, it seems logical that the positive athlete-centered cultures that appeared to exist were a large part of the participation and retention numbers being strong in these organizations. In each interview I conducted, there were strong answers about high retention almost across the board. And the one organization whose numbers seemed to be down described some unique circumstances that drive 20-30% of kids to not just leave their organization each year, but to physically move out of the city each year. Removing this outlier, it appeared clear that the strength of these organizations’ cultures was key to continued participation of their athletes.

The first objective of this project was to gain a better understanding of participation and
retention rates amongst the PCA partner organizations included in this study. Participation rates for these organizations were strong. The high school athletics departments both reported very high numbers in comparison with peer schools. The qualitative data suggested that for the most part participation numbers for these organizations continued to strengthen as the partnership with PCA aged. Similarly, the reported retention rates in this study were also very high.

Retention leads to more positive outcomes in kids

When focusing on the long-term development of young athletes, retention in sports is a key component in achieving positive outcomes (Anderson-Butcher, 2005). When kids stay in sport programs with positive environments, better outcomes will result (Anderson-Butcher, et al., 2022). Sport leaders in this study shared examples of kids learning how to respect one another, having appreciation for competition, and coaches who made efforts to coach their kids to give their very best. The focus on learning, growth, and development, as people even more so than as athletes, for these leaders was very clear. As a group they all seemed to understand the big picture for their athletes. Janie mentioned their sport experience being a positive way to connect with their schoolmates. Justin described the camaraderie that he had seen help his high school athletes form great life-long memories. He even described the unimportance that winning outcomes had when compared to the forever memories that a fun trip with the team had created for his players. These leaders wanted their kids to love what they were doing, to enjoy being kids, and to minimize the pressures that young athletes across different ages face. In their answers there was this underlying belief that if their athletes keep playing, they will experience these positive benefits. It could be through the memories that Justin described; or with the understanding that giving great effort can translate outside of sport that Danny talked about; or being a part of something bigger than themselves that Harry said he saw so often with players that kept playing even though they weren’t ever going to be one of the best varsity players.

Understanding PCA’s impact

One of the clear contributors to the positive athlete-centered cultures that were reported was the impact of PCA training for these organizations. It was clear that these sport leaders believe that the impact of PCA training was immense. Some of the many positive comments to this end include from Lawrence, “PCA has played a pivotal role in developing a culture based on building culture, chemistry and talent.”

Harry shared that,

The overall concept of a more positive approach to coaching has had a huge impact on the relationships between coaches and student athletes. As mentioned earlier, when coaches work to create a more positive approach, the levels of anxiety, fear, stress, etcetera decrease dramatically for the student athlete. This then allows for them to take more “risks” in what they do within their sport.

Danny said about the impact of PCA training, “I feel as if the coaches focus has become more about the kids than the outside influences.” According to Victor, “For new coaches [PCA] provides a positive perspective of coaching and provides tools for them to implement.” Lawrence also added, “PCA has helped coaches recognize their impact.”

The PCA impact that the participants shared came from a lot of positive things that had happened in workshops delivered. There were numerous comments like Victor’s that described coaches starting to understand a new perspective of coaching. Barrett also described a shift in perspective and Eliza was explicit in her description of seeing coaches change their perspective from one season to the next due directly to the training from PCA. There is no doubt that the training in these organizations has been impactful. The sport leaders in these organizations also believed that future workshops would continue to be impactful with new coaches, new parents, and new athletes. There was another component about the PCA impact that stood out as well. These leaders were using PCA language, had been incorporating PCA content in regular communication with coaches (see Eliza’s comment about the PCA checklist), and were displaying reminders of PCA values for others to see. It felt like most of these sport leaders had truly taken the incorporation of PCA content to another level. It also seemed like most of these leaders understood the research behind the PCA content at a high level. Harry talked about the growth mindset (Dweck, 2006), Janie and Eliza both conveyed a deep understanding of the nuances of athlete-centered youth sport development, Danny came across as a seasoned student-first teacher and coach, and every answer Justin gave was reflective of an athletes first perspective. All of the participants gave PCA credit for helping them establish and maintain a positive culture.

PCA impact and athlete retention, connecting the dots

The perception of the sport leaders in this study was that they had strong, positive, athlete-centered cultures. These leaders shared ways that PCA has played a role in creating and maintaining these cultures. The participation rates and retention rates reported in these organizations were very strong. Those surveyed and interviewed connected their positive cultures to their strong retention rates. As seen in the results section above, examples of each of these were provided. So, the question remains does PCA training and the incorporation of PCA content within these organizations contribute to higher levels of athlete retention? Yes. Given the data collected in this study, for this group of PCA partners, the impact of PCA over time seems to have been a contributing factor to high levels of participation. PCA content also appears to be connected to the high retention rates in these organizations. When leaders believe in a positive approach for athletes and coaches share this belief, it becomes possible to find ways to implement positive tools into their coaching. PCA training directly supports this. When athletes feel supported, they are motivated to work harder, and they have more fun. PCA training is designed to emphasize this for coaches and athletes. When athletes trust their coaches they accept their roles, are great teammates, and they soak up more of the lessons that sport can offer. PCA training can effectively teach coaches how to do this with conversations about practical tools like rewarding effort, the mistake ritual, and providing effective feedback through positive, truthful, and specific praise.

The participants in this study were emphatic about the role that culture played in regard to retention.

Janie said, “culture plays a huge role in retention.”
Danny said, “it’s 1:1” with culture and retention.
Lawrence said, “culture has a huge impact in retaining players.”
And Harry added, “Oh, it’s the number one thing.”

When this sentiment is combined with the also significant statements made about the impact of PCA, it seems clear that PCA’s impact in these organizations has been and continues to be a critical component of the positive cultures. As a result, the PCA impact likely goes beyond the culture and plays an important role in encouraging athletes to continue playing their sport in these organizations. This comment from Barrett makes the connection directly saying that PCA trainings have “helped me grow into a positive coach where kids want to come back and play for me year after year.”

The benefit of a long-term PCA partnership

At the time of this study, each of these partners were long-term partners, all planning on continuing the relationship with PCA and scheduling at least one workshop for the upcoming fiscal year. Hearing the partners talk in depth about the process of culture creation and the time it takes to establish a culture was worthy of note. Together with the belief from these participants that maintaining a positive culture was important and ongoing, the results here seem to promote the idea that long-term partnerships with PCA might provide the greatest benefit to a youth or school-based athletic program.

There was not a consensus about which type of workshop held the greatest value as some organizations used mostly coach workshops, others focused on parents, and at least one was now leaning more heavily on athlete workshops. Culture creation is multi-faceted and PCA can support organizations by offering training to each of these different populations based upon the needs of the organization. What was clear though, was that a longer-term partnership with PCA seemed to be contributing positively to their culture. This finding leads to questions like: Is there a way to support more long-term partnerships in PCA Colorado? Would it be beneficial to offer a 5- or 10-year partnership?

Limitations

There were a few limitations with this study. The first was that athletic directors and leaders of youth sport organizations are particularly busy individuals. For athletic directors there is no down time during a school year. As a result, this is a difficult group to get to participate in a study such as this. The only time of year when they are less busy is during the summer, and even then, many individuals in this position are off contract or are taking time with their families. This presented challenges getting responses, asking follow-up questions, and in some cases made it difficult to get responses at all.

Another limitation was that the pool of potential partner organizations in Colorado was far lower than if this had been conducted in a higher density population center like New York City, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Chicago. Lastly, the time that the researcher was on the ground in Colorado to collect data was critical in getting follow-up interviews scheduled and completed. While this was imperative in the successful completion of this project, that time was limited to one week, or five business days. It is possible that additional time in Colorado might have yielded additional data for this study even given the other possible limitations.

Future directions

At the time of the completion of this study, I am not aware of any other studies completed by PCA or other individuals that collected the depth of qualitative data found in this study on topics related to culture building, athlete retention rates, coach/leader experiences, and PCA impact with any number of PCA partners. The richness of the data from this study yielded strong support for the current and future impact of PCA in these partner organizations in Colorado. The first recommendation moving forward would be to increase the sample size and expand the study to include different regions. There could be tremendous value in hearing what youth and high school sport leaders in Colorado are saying as compared to individuals in the same positions in Minnesota, Texas, or Florida. My second recommendation would be to incorporate both quantitative and qualitative data in this survey. According to Visek, et al. (2014), very few studies exist that include both quantitative and qualitative data collection in topics related to youth sport participation and retention. Given that research on dropout rates and retention rates in youth sports is limited (Anderson-Butcher, et al., 2022), there could be a real opportunity to expand on what is known about these topics and at the same time dive deeper into what is happening in PCA partner organizations.

Another possible direction would be to include systematic observations in this study design. Several participants in this study mentioned how meaningful it might be to have PCA observe coaches. This would require highly trained individuals and likely too many hours to implement on a wide scale for PCA. However, this could add additional corroborating data to strengthen the results. As a part of this type of study, it also might provide future participants with an incentive to participate and a value-added component to this research. Lastly, I would recommend taking the extra steps at the beginning of this project to allow for publication of the results in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Given the nature of the results of this current study, the limited knowledge on these topics, and the desire of PCA to continue to contribute to the changing youth and high school sport landscape, publishing the results to future studies would likely be a meaningful and worthwhile endeavor.

Previous research has indicated that consistent long-term participation in youth sports provides the greatest possible benefits for young people (Anderson-Butcher et al, 2022). In this study, long-term PCA partners reported that the development of a positive, athlete-centered culture was a key component in their reported high participation and retention rates. The participants universally agreed that PCA training and the continued incorporation of PCA content have been impactful with regards to creating and maintaining their positive cultures. As a result, it was apparent that not only was PCA contributing to the creation of positive sport environments and experiences for athletes in these organizations, but PCA training was a contributor to the high retention rates of athletes. The findings suggest that bringing more PCA training to additional populations in Colorado could be particularly beneficial in supporting young people – exposing them to positive meaningful sport experiences and also contributing the likelihood of continued participation in sport. Furthermore, there is compelling evidence in this study to suggest that a long-term partnership with PCA will have a significant impact on the culture and retention rates of youth or school-based athletics program. Given the results in this study, pursuing additional long-term partnerships, beyond 3-years, would be a logical step in maximizing PCA’s impact in Colorado.