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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sports Coaching: Performance and Development
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1490688
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploring Life Skills and Positive Youth Development through Sports View all articles

JU:MP Leads: Sparking physical activity leadership and Supporting Positive Youth Development in a deprived community

Provisionally accepted
Jamie Crowther Jamie Crowther 1*Elliot Lever Elliot Lever 2Sufyan Dogra Sufyan Dogra 2Sally Barber Sally Barber 2Jennifer Hall Jennifer Hall 2
  • 1 Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford, United Kingdom
  • 2 Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Physical activity interventions in deprived communities should acknowledge the social, political, and cultural context in which they are delivered. Targeted young leaders programs can harness positive youth development principles and address these concerns by engaging underrepresented young people and developing them as physical activity leaders who can support local delivery efforts. Community-based Youth Leadership development programs are under-researched, and little is known about how to develop young people from deprived communities as physical activity leaders. This research project used iInterviews, focus groups and Ripple Effects Mapping to evaluate a community based young physical activity leaders development program delivered in a community with high levels of deprivation in Bradford, UK. The program, known as ‘JU:MP leads’ developed 20 young people aged 16-25 as young leaders between September 2022 and September 2023. Thematic analysis of data uncovered that a community-based young leaders development program can be effective in supporting local young people from a deprived community to develop as physical activity leaders, particularly when adopting a flexible delivery model through which young people can engage around other commitments. Key mechanisms within the program that supported development included the acquisition of formal, nationally recognised qualifications, informal training and mentorship, peer support and ongoing reflection.These key mechanisms of the program facilitated the personal and professional development of the young people into confident and assured physical activity leaders. The research concluded that community based physical activity leaders programs can support Positive Youth Development of young people from deprived communities by developing their skills and supporting them to make valid contributions to local physical activity provision.

    Keywords: young leaders, physical activity, positive youth development, Deprived community, Community

    Received: 03 Sep 2024; Accepted: 20 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Crowther, Lever, Dogra, Barber and Hall. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jamie Crowther, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.