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This study applies a transformative sport service research approach to examine student-athletes' wellness within a collegiate sport setting. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were completed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the stop of play in Canada (early 2021). Findings denoted wellness was influenced by this time period as well as organizational factors which are within the purview of existing management practices. The study details the service environment to understand physical and mental well-being while taking into consideration the general and organizational environments which influence the student-athletes. Findings demonstrate that eudaimonic-related experiences (e.g., learning, development, relationship) are related to student-athletes' mental well-being. This research underpins the role of education, policies, and communication, which draws several implications for the service environment in a collegiate sport setting and the key stakeholders involved in producing an environment to enhance student-athletes' experience. The paper elaborates on the importance of the service environment and provides evidence of what student-athletes suggest management can change and focus their efforts on towards creating a transformative service environment. Theoretical implications for the transformative service research are put forward, including the co-creative aspects to determine programming which could contribute towards student-athletes wellness. Broader suggestions for change within the sport system and future research are also advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated how social environmental factors (i.e., supportive behaviors of coaches and parents) are associated with thriving in sport amongst a youth population, influencing important outcomes of sport participation (i.e., intention to continue sport and subjective well-being in sport). Two-wave data was collected within a three-month time span to help determine the relationship of social environmental factors with intention to continue and subjective well-being. One hundred fifty-nine Japanese youth sport participants (Mage = 15.81) completed the questionnaires twice. Autonomy supportiveness of coaches and parents was positively related to thriving three months later. In contrast, only the relationship between autonomy support from coaches and thriving was mediated by the change in basic psychological need satisfaction. Moreover, autonomy support from coaches was related to intention to continue sport and subjective well-being in sport through the changes in basic psychological needs satisfaction and thriving individually and in sequence. The results indicate the importance of both the parent and coach in the role of nurturing the young athletes, while the influence was more robust for coaches. The findings indicate a need for stakeholders to focus on educating and promoting their role in creating supportive environments aimed at increasing retention and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated social outcomes of interest regarding the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) and the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) from the perspective of the young athletes competing at the Buenos Aires 2018 YOG. In particular, the process of how the YOG's planned service environment contributes to young athletes' learning is examined using a transformative service research lens and control value theory. An online post-Games survey measured the athletes' perspective on (1) the service environment; (2) enjoyment; (3) learning; and (4) social outcomes of interest. A total of 330 anonymized responses were collected (boys = 130, girls = 200). All service environment-related factors (i.e. service environment outside of sport, service environment in sport venue, and the Learn and Share program) significantly predicted the social outcomes of interest of the YOG through learning (Mediator1) and enjoyment (Mediator2) both individually and in-sequence. For the IOC to create greater social outcomes of interest, athletes' sense of enjoyment and learning must be fostered. Evidence demonstrates that, through athlete enjoyment and learning, the acquisition of social outcomes of interest increases, consequently bolstering the notions advanced in control value theory where positive emotions enhance one's learning. Hence, for the IOC, creating an environment that focuses on the sport competitions as well as on the education and cultural opportunities for athlete exchange is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Thriving, "a psychological state composed of the joint experience of vitality and learning (Spreitzer, Sutcliffe, Dutton, Sonenshein, & Grant [2005]. A socially embedded model of thriving at work. Organization Science, 16(5), 537–549.)" might offer further insight into the problem of youth sport development research. The purpose of the study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying thriving within a youth sport context. More specifically, the present study considered the perspective of Self-Determination Theory and in particular, how hedonic and eudaimonic motives, as antecedents of thriving, influenced youth athletes' outcomes (i.e., intention to continue sport, subjective well-being in sport, and goal progress), consequences of thriving. 196 youth sport participants answered an online survey. Path analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses. We used the bias-corrected bootstrap procedure to examine the hypothesised indirect effects. Our results showed that both hedonic and eudaimonic motives were positively related to all outcome variables (intention to continue sport, subjective well-being in sport, and goal progress) through both the basic psychological need satisfaction and thriving. Thriving is an important psychological concept that can facilitate youth athletes to acquire important outcomes for youth sport participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]