An important issue facing youth sport researchers is understanding why youth participate in sport programs. Most participation motivation studies have been carried out in the United States and in Anglophone countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. These studies have identified a fairly consistent set of motivational factors for participation. Starting from this premise, descriptive research on youth participation motivation is reported to verify if, in a Latin country with a sport culture different from Anglophone countries, the same set of motivational factors could be identified. Young athletes (N = 2,598, aged 9–18 years), involved in different sports, completed the modified Italian version of the Participation Motivation Questionnaire (Gill, Gross, & Huddleston, 1983). Factor analyses showed a set of motivational factors fairly consistent with the research conducted in Anglophone countries. Differences were found among participants in relation to gender, age, sport, parents’ educational level, and geographical area.