How High School Athlete Student Mentors Impact Elementary/Middle School Students: A Case for Positive Coaching Alliance

Abstract

While the physical, psychological, and social benefits of physical activity have been touted for decades, few children in the U.S. are sufficiently active physically. We created a cross-age mentoring program to encourage children to not only engage in sports, but to also gain valuable personal and interpersonal skills from program activities. We interviewed 73 individuals from two community recreation centers—53 elementary school participants, 10 high-school student-athlete mentors, and 11 professional staff members—using semi-structured interviews. We found that cross-age mentorship program in sports created positive one-to-one and one-to-many relationships between the high school athlete mentors and the elementary school participants. Our grounded theory research demonstrates the efficacy of high school student-athletes as mentors in sports programs. We also have described in detail a program that is readily scalable because it is easy to implement, is cost-effective, and has benefits for all involved. Organizations such as after-school programs and community centers can design programs that bring these groups together and provide opportunities for learning and fun.