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Assessment is an important element to the present and future of sport psychology (McCann et al., 2002), both in science and in practice. Yet, few resources exist addressing the unique developmental parameters facing sport scientists and sport practitioners when it comes to conducting sound assessment across the athletic lifespan. Indeed, this aspect of the literature remains particularly sparse with respect to youth sport assessment (Noble, 2011). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the practical issues and best practice guidelines pertaining to assessment during the provision of sport psychology services to children and adolescent athletes.

While there are significant benefits to be gleaned from the delivery of sport psychology services to youth athletes, there does not appear to be a sport psychology consulting model that adequately addresses the unique needs and organizational structure of a youth sport population. The authors have both integrated and extended the current paucity of literature in an attempt to provide sport psychology practitioners with an inclusive youth sport consulting model. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to introduce the Youth Sport Consulting Model (YSCM) which serves as an educational framework for guiding and supporting sport psychology practitioners in the implementation and delivery of sport psychology services for young athletes and their sport organizations.

Colloquial conjecture asserts perceptions of difference in what is more or less important to youth athletes based on binary categorization, such as sex (girls vs. boys), age (younger vs. older), and level of competitive play (recreational vs. travel). The fun integration theory’s FUN MAPS, which identify 11 fun-factors comprised of 81 fun-determinants, offers a robust framework from which to test these conceptions related to fun. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to scientifically explore: (a) the extent to which soccer players’ prioritization of the 11 fun-factors and 81 fun-determinants were consistent with the gender differences hypothesis or the gender similarities hypothesis, and (b) how their fun priorities evolved as a function of their age and level of play. Players’ (n = 141) data were selected from the larger database that originally informed the conceptualization of the fun integration theory’s FUN MAPS. Following selection, innovative pattern match displays and go-zone displays were produced to identify discrete points of consensus and discordance between groups. Regardless of sex, age, or level of play, results indicated extraordinarily high consensus among the players’ reported importance of the fun-factors (r = .90–.97) and fun-determinants (r = .92–.93), which were consistently grouped within strata of primary, secondary, and tertiary importance. Overall, results were consistent with the gender similarities hypothesis, thereby providing the first data to dispel common conceptions about what is most fun with respect to sex, in addition to age and level of play, in a sample of youth soccer players.

Research has revealed that dress and build can impact others’ perceptions of personality, knowledge, competence, and effectiveness (Hash, Munna, Vogel, & Bason, 2003; Lennon, 1986). This study investigated athletes’ first impression formation of performance enhancement consultants (PECs) and its influence on athletes’ perceptions of their knowledge, ability, and personality characteristics. Participants (N = 86) rated 11 pictures of PECs on personality traits, sport knowledge, and likeliness of seeking services. Results revealed that build and dress were most influential on PEC ratings. PECs with a lean build and academic clothing were rated higher on personality traits PECs than other groups. PECs with a lean build and athletic clothing were rated higher on sport knowledge and more likely to be sought for services than PECs with a large build and academic clothing.