Author(s): Ashwani Rawal

Abstract:

Background: Social skills and teamwork are core developmental competencies in adolescence, shaping peer relationships, school engagement, and long-term psychosocial wellbeing. Organized sports are widely promoted as a natural setting for these competencies, yet evidence varies by sport type, participation “dose, ” and the quality of coaching and peer climate.

Objectives: To examine the association between organized sports participation and adolescents’ social skills and teamwork, to compare outcomes across team sports, individual sports, and non-participation, and to determine whether participation frequency, duration, and perceived motivational climate predict these outcomes.

Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted among 240 adolescents (12-18 years) recruited from secondary schools and youth sport clubs. Participants were classified as team-sport athletes (n=110), individual-sport athletes (n=50), or non-participants in organized sport (n=80). Data were collected using a sociodemographic/sport profile, Youth Experience Survey 2.0 for developmental sport experiences, a youth teamwork scale, and validated life-skills/social-skills measures capturing communication, empathy, conflict management, and leadership. Group differences were tested using t-tests and one-way ANOVA with post-hoc comparisons; multiple linear regression assessed predictors of social skills and teamwork after adjusting for age and sex.

Results: Sport participants scored significantly higher than non-participants on social skills total and all subdomains, with large effects for teamwork, leadership, and conflict management. Team-sport youth demonstrated the highest outcomes, followed by individual-sport youth, then non-participants (Team > Individual > None). Regression models showed that higher sport frequency, longer participation history, and more supportive coach/peer climates independently predicted greater social skills and teamwork, with team-sport involvement remaining a strong positive predictor.

Conclusion: Organized sport, especially team-based participation within supportive motivational climates, is strongly associated with improved adolescent social skills and teamwork. Enhancing access to quality, life-skill-oriented sport programs may strengthen youth social development at scale.

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