Abstract
Sport is primarily the domain of youth and there is a prevailing view that development primarily occurs in youth/adolescence. Although researchers examining human development have typically focused on youth populations, development occurs across the lifespan. Therefore, given the extensive research and theories on youth sport, this qualitative study aimed to utilize these frameworks in the context of Masters sport to determine the potential for developmental benefits (or psychosocial assets) of sport participation across the lifespan. We interviewed 14 adults (nine men and five women) aged 46-61 years (M=50) involved in Masters sport (swimming, running, cycling, triathlon, dragon boating, volleyball, ice hockey, and triathlon). They ranged in skill, competitive, and commitment levels, and were recruited from urban (population 2.5 million) and rural (population approximately 18, 500) areas in Southern Ontario, Canada. Key themes based on the psychosocial outcomes of their sport involvement were: Competence and Confidence; Character; Commitment; Connection; and Cognitive development. Established frameworks from research on positive youth development, particularly Lerner’s 5 C’s model, were used to interpret the findings. Similarly, Developmental Assets (Benson, 1990) were found among the Masters athletes, but these assets held different meaning in mid-later life compared to youth and some developmental areas were no longer relevant in later life (e.g., school dropout, career trajectories). Applying available frameworks from youth sport research to the Masters sport context is useful because it supports the modification of these models and highlights their potential in identifying developmental outcomes of sport participation across the lifespan.Acknowledgments: York University Faculty of Health