Positive Skeptics

Sport provides opportunities for children and youth to engage in valuable and positive relationships with adults, which is especially important when such benefits are not available at home. Thus, it is a missed opportunity for children who are "gated" -or not included in sport because they are less well-behaved during early stages of childhood than other children. These children are being prevented from participating in the very thing that could help them learn to control and regulate their behavior. Sport provides an opportunity for children to safely navigate and negotiate between right and wrong as they learn to interact with peers and adults. Research by Taliaferro et al.40 suggests that playing sport can even protect against suicide risk

Becoming a member of a community that includes his teammates, coaches, family, and the greater community provides "fertile ground for adolescent self-esteem development because teams provide opportunities for youth to engage with adults and peers to achieve collective goals." In addition, physical activity enhances self-perceptions of one 's body, competence, and self-worth. The assumed association between playing sport and improved psychological and behavioral outcomes (or character) is at times challenged, despite the overwhelming directionality of the positive associations. Skeptics also say that many studies have failed to examine whether athletes had specific character traits before playing sport. Moreover, many studies do not account for variations in the level of participation by competition sport, type of sport played, and other contextual factors. Linus, and participating in other types of nonsport al.35 caution that many of these activities also can produce benefits- for example, the performing arts, school clubs, and other prosocial activities. However, sport participation stands out over other activities as a confidence builder, showing a consistent advantage in building self-esteem and improved psychological functioning. This is particularly true during the later adolescent years. Hansen found that youth who play sport reported higher rates of