Changing the Game: An Adelphi Professor Is Developing the Nation's First Mental Health Guidelines for Youth Sports

Sports programs have the power to positively impact children’s lives—from building essential teamwork skills to improving their physical health. However, without the right training and resources, coaches and parents can also negatively impact kids’ mental health and prevent them from pursuing sports going forward.

That’s why Meredith Whitley, PhD, professor of health and sport sciences at Adelphi University’s Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences, recently applied for and received a $100,000 grant from the Movember Foundation, a charitable organization focusing on men’s health, to lead a project to develop mental health guidelines for youth sports across the United States.

An athlete herself, Dr. Whitley had her own negative experiences that inspired her to pursue this work. Since then, she has published numerous high-profile studies and papers on the impact of youth sports programs, including research on the Homeless World Cup, improving access to sports for marginalized communities, and how youth sports participation can save the United States billions in medical costs. She also served on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Science Board from 2020 to 2021, when it was focused on youth sports.

With this latest grant, Dr. Whitley and William V. Massey, PhD, associate professor at Oregon State University, are working together to tackle some of the most pressing mental health challenges facing youth in sports today.

We spoke with Dr. Whitley to learn more about her goals for this initiative.

How did you develop the idea for this project?

Our youth sports system in the United States is broken. It’s incredibly exclusionary and costly, and it can be detrimental. We’re also seeing the adultification or professionalization of youth sports as kids are expected to start competing earlier and earlier. It’s turned into this industry where making money is the focus instead of helping kids have really positive, enriching experiences and learn how to be active.

At the same time, we know that sport has the potential to promote mental health and well-being. It teaches kids how to be part of a team and gives them a sense of belonging. They can—and should—have a coach who believes in them and their abilities, and helps them get better day in and day out.

What are the biggest mental health challenges facing youth in sports today?

There are wonderful things that can happen in sport, but it can also be really harmful. Coaches can act in certain ways that not only ruin that moment or that day for a kid, but discourage them from being part of the sport moving forward. I have friends and colleagues who aren’t active because they had negative sport experiences as kids. That has lifelong implications. Research that I have done with Dr. Massey shows that.

To be honest, I had negative experiences playing in college for a coach who was singularly focused on winning, often at the expense of our well-being. It’s still something that sticks with me. It’s one of the reasons I do this work.

There’s also been a growing mental health crisis in our country. The pandemic worsened that and we’re still seeing it continue to grow. There’s an impact from social media as well. More now than ever, kids are scared to try things they’re not great at. There’s such a fear of failure and judgment. Some kids feel that if you can’t play in college or you can’t make it professionally, it’s not worth playing. There are all of these high expectations of what it looks like to be an athlete that can just be debilitating for kids.

Sports can be so good. And yet we’re messing it up.

How will the project address these challenges?

We are partnering with youth sport stakeholders across the United States to develop national, evidence-informed guidance on mental health in this sector. This will include actionable, targeted guidelines to support mental health in youth sport settings across the country, from recreational sports and club sports to school sports and beyond.

This is unfolding in four phases.

• First, we conducted a review of literature on the intersection of youth sport and mental health in the U.S; we screened close to 20,000 research papers and 87 program or organization websites.
• Next, we conducted 14 focus groups with youth sport athletes, parents, coaches, administrators and organizers across the country.
• We are now in the midst of surveying an advisory panel of 18 experts to help develop these guidelines and make sure they’re as rigorous, meaningful and feasible as possible. Those experts included an Olympic gold medalist, psychologists, a leader in the Department of Health and Human Services, and a leader of Nike’s philanthropic efforts in youth sports.
• In November, we’ll come together for a two-day workshop in New York City to finalize our mental health guidelines and develop a plan for dissemination and implementation.

What will these mental health guidelines entail?

Some will simply focus on providing the basic level of information and education that coaches, parents and sports administrators need, such as teaching them to recognize signs that a kid might be struggling or need support. Some will help coaches conduct a practice that is positive and encouraging so kids feel like they can develop the skills they need to be successful.

For a lot of these kids, their coach is an incredibly important person in their life and yet the training and the vetting that they go through is really minimal. I coached my oldest as a volunteer parent coach this past winter, and I wasn’t required to do anything—not even a background check. So some of these guidelines will focus on making sure that the people who have the most direct contact with young athletes are best set up to excel.

What are your hopes for this project and the future of youth sports in the United States?

The research is clear: The number one thing kids want in sports is to have fun. And if they’re not having fun, then they’re either going to walk away from it or they’re eventually going to burn out. If someone wants to be active, why are we discouraging that? Why are we not figuring out the best ways for them to have fun, move their bodies and be part of a team?

This doesn’t mean we take away competition or minimize talent development. These are part of the sports experience, and allow sports to be a microcosm for life. In sports, kids can learn how to regulate their emotions after losing a game. They get experience working toward a goal as part of a team. They learn how to handle pressure. These are all amazing lessons to learn, and when sports are done right, I believe they are the best place for this learning to unfold.

I even have a “pie in the sky” dream: A complete overhaul of the youth sports ecosystem. This means addressing the issues of professionalization and profit, which have created a system focused on early specialization and a “pay-to-play” model. This could be achieved by creating community-based leagues and programs that are accessible and affordable for all. The focus would shift from developing a small number of athletes to fostering a lifelong love of sport for all participants, with an emphasis on personal growth, skill development, and enjoyment over winning and financial gain.

Is this research having an impact on your teaching at Adelphi?

The classes that I teach are grounded in the disciplines of sport sociology, sport and exercise psychology, sport management, and sport-based youth development—so this research profoundly influences my teaching.

Ultimately, my work as a scholar directly informs my role as an educator, enabling me to equip students with a deep understanding of how to create supportive, enriching and mentally healthy environments for young athletes.