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The education and training process of sport psychologists has been, for the most part, an unplanned process. The divisions within the field are explored along with the attempts by national bodies to systematize the standards and qualifications necessary for sport psychologists. Educational opportunities tend to be hybrid versions of programs in physical education combined with counseling or clinical psychology. Within these programs, it is not unusual to find few faculty who emphasize sport psychology as a primary area. Potential training models are explored and suggestions are made for programs seeking to develop a sport psychology component.

As the field of sport psychology has evolved and become more focused on applied/practitioner issues, the need for interdisciplinary training has been noted. Little information exists, however, concerning the acceptability of sport psychology training in applied psychology programs. Thus, 41 counseling psychology programs and 41 exercise/sport science departments (matched pairs) were surveyed to determine their relative attitudes toward sport psychology research, training, and current professional issues. The exercise/sport science departments were found to offer more courses in sport psychology and to have more faculty and students interested in sport research. Over 70% of the counseling psychology programs, however, had students with sport psychology interests. In addition, the two academic areas reported equally high levels of acceptance concerning their graduate students pursuing sport psychology research and training. Mechanisms for promoting interdisciplinary training in sport psychology are discussed.

The current study focuses on the effect of transformational leadership on athletes’ performance in the mediation of psychological need satisfaction, burnout, competition anxiety, life satisfaction, and positive–negative affect. The sample consisted of 391 soccer players aged between 16 and 20 years. Six scales were used in this study: Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Needs Satisfaction Scale, Athlete Burnout Measure, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Scale, and Sport Competition Anxiety Test. The method of Vallerand was preferred to measure performance, and structural equation modeling was employed to analyze data. The model data fit was also verified. It was found that the transformational leadership behaviors of coaches signally influence athletes’ performance either directly or indirectly. From another perspective, increasing the psychological health or well-being of  athletes has important effects on sport performance.

Self-regulation is essential for optimal development, performance, and well-being in sport, and smartphones may support and hinder this self-regulation. The relationship between smartphones and self-regulation has seldom been investigated in sport. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine self-regulatory processes, conditions, and outcomes related to athletes’ smartphone usage. Twenty-four competitive and high-performance athletes from eight sports participated in individual interviews informed by the models of self-regulated learning and self-regulatory strength. Themes created from a directed content analysis aligned with components of both models and were integrated with new themes to form the “Self-regulation and Smartphone Usage Model” (SSUM). The SSUM illustrates a cyclical model of self-regulation and smartphone usage across five components: self-regulation capacity, processes, conditions, outcomes, and competencies. While self-regulation demands can be increased because of smartphones and lead to depletion, smartphones can be powerful vehicles to strengthen self-regulation competencies.

In this study, nine Canadian competitive youth sport coaches’ challenges and successes in creating safer and more inclusive sport spaces were explored through individual pre- and postseason interviews and an in-season reflective portfolio of their coaching experiences. From a story analyst approach, the central narrative theme of “it’s my responsibility to enact change” was identified. A storyteller approach was then used to communicate the meanings of the central theme as accessible creative nonfiction composite stories: When is it okay to intervene?; burning out … it’s consuming me; and breaking through … it’s necessary work. Building on previous research, the findings demonstrate how coaches’ critical praxes shift on a continuum of awareness and advocacy. The creative nonfictions may be used by coach educators and mental performance consultants to help coaches and leaders in sport assess their critical praxes toward challenging social issues in sport and acting in ways that support advocacy and empowerment.