Best Practice for Youth Sport tackles the increasing professionalization and specialization of youth sport and the changing culture of youth sport. The text explores developmentally appropriate practice and encourages athlete-centered practices that are truly beneficial for young athletes.

Although the physical and psychological benefits of youth participating in sport are evident, the increasing professionalization and specialization of youth sport, primarily by coaches and parents, are changing the culture of youth sport and causing it to erode the ideal mantra: “It’s all about the kids.” In Best Practice for Youth Sport, readers will gain an appreciation of an array of issues regarding youth sport. This research-based text is presented in a practical manner, with examples from current events that foster readers’ interest and class discussion. The content is based on the principle of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), which can be defined as engaging in decisions, behaviors, and policies that meet the physical, psychological, and social needs of children and youth based on their ages and maturational levels. This groundbreaking resource covers a breadth of topics, including bone development, burnout, gender and racial stereotypes, injuries, motor behavior, and parental pressures. Written by Robin S. Vealey and Melissa A. Chase, the 16 chapters of Best Practice for Youth Sport are divided into four parts. Part I, Youth Sport Basics, provides readers with the fundamental knowledge and background related to the history, evolution, and organization of youth sport. Part II, Maturation and Readiness for Youth Sport Participants, is the core of understanding how and why youth sport is different from adult sport. This part details why it is important to know when youth are ready to learn and compete. Part III, Intensity of Participation in Youth Sport, examines the appropriateness of physical and psychological intensity at various developmental stages and the potential ramifications of overtraining, overspecialization, overstress, and overuse. The text concludes with part IV, Social Considerations in Youth Sport, which examines how youth sport coaches and parents can help create a supportive social environment so that children can maximize the enjoyment and benefits from youth sport. In addition to 14 appendixes, activities, glossaries, study questions, and other resources that appear in Best Practice for Youth Sport, the textbook is enhanced with instructor ancillaries: a test package, image bank, and instructor guide that features a syllabus, additional study questions and learning activities, tips on teaching difficult concepts, and additional readings and resources. These specialized resources ensure that instructors will be ready for each class session with engaging materials. Ancillaries are free to course adopters and available at www.HumanKinetics.com/BestPracticeForYouthSport. Best Practice for Youth Sport provides readers with knowledge of sport science concerning youth sport and engages them through the use of anecdotes, activities, case studies, and practical strategies. Armed with the knowledge from this text, students, coaches, parents, administrators, and others will be able to become active agents of social change in structuring and enhancing youth sport programs to meet the unique developmental needs of children, making the programs athlete centered rather than adult centered so that they truly are all about the kids.

The Commonwealth Yearbook is the flagship annual publication of the Commonwealth Secretariat, with this special anniversary edition celebrating the Secretariat's 50th year. Published annually, the Yearbook is the essential reference guide to the countries, organisations, activities and values of the modern Commonwealth. This special 2015 anniversary edition has been fully updated to include: * Strategic directions of the association as it prepares for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and Commonwealth People's Forum 2015 in Malta * Programmes and partnerships adding global value in the areas of politics (democracy and rights, rule of law, gender equality, youth empowerment); governance and natural resources; health and education; economics and trade; and resilience in small and vulnerable states * Moments of Commonwealth history recorded by historians and Secretariat insiders of the time * A guide to the essential Commonwealth communiques and declarations including those from the 2013 Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka and Commonwealth Charter * Comprehensive profiles of 53 member countries, including overseas territories * An extensive statistics and reference section, and the official directory of Commonwealth professional, cultural and civil society development agencies.

This book represents a landmark effort to bring into focus the moral and ethical issues associated with the management of sport and sport organisations. Within a sport context Joy DeSensi and Danny Rosenberg have critically examined a view shared by virtually all business managers and scholars -- that ethics and morality in management is not only good for all concerned but a necessity in terms of the bottom line.

This international review of the national youth policy in Latvia, like preceding reviews, aims to fulfil three distinct objectives: - to advise on national youth policy; - to identify components which might combine to form a harmonised approach to youth policy across Europe; and - to contribute to a learning process in relation to the development and implementation of youth policy. The Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe embark¬ed on its international reviews of national youth policy in 1997. Latvia, at its own request, is the fourteenth country to be the focus of an international review. This report goes from the historical back¬ground through to the present day and includes information gather¬ed by the international review team as well as its analyses and recommendations concerning the development, perspectives and challenges for the future of youth policy in Latvia.