• About Human Kinetics
  • Director’s Message
  • Virtual Tour
• Our Programs
  • Undergraduate
  • Graduate
• Research
  • Socio-Cultural Studies
  • Leisure Studies
  • Sport Management
  • Psychology and Pedagogy of Physical Activity and Sport
  • Biomechanics
  • Motor Control and Learning
  • Physiology
  • Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society
• Personnel
  • Faculty
  • Office of the Director
  • Support Staff
• Opportunities
  • Students
  • Faculty Openings
  • Support Staff Openings
• Student Associations
  • Undergraduate Student Association
  • Graduate Student Association
• Annual Reports
  • 2008-2009

Bradley Young

Publications

• Young, B.W. (in press). Psycho-social perspectives on the motivation and commitment of Masters athletes. Invited chapter in N. Holt & M. Talbot (Eds.), Lifelong engagement in sport and physical activity (pp. 125-138). Appears in Perspectives: The multidisciplinary series of physical education and sport science. London: Routledge & International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education. ISBN: 978-0-415-6789-5 (hbk); 978-0-203-09357 (ebk)
• Hancock, D.J., Young, B.W., & Ste-Marie, D.M. (in press). Effects of a rule change that eliminates body-checking on the relative age effect in Ontario minor ice hockey. Journal of Sports Sciences.
• Young, B.W., & Medic, N. (2011). Examining social influences on the sport commitment of Masters swimmers. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 12, 168-175. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.09.004
• Young, B.W., & Salmela, J.H. (2010). Examination of practice activities related to the acquisition of elite performance in Canadian middle distance running. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 41, 73-90.
• Medic, N., Young, B.W., & Medic, D. (2010). Participation-related relative age effects in Masters swimming: A 6-year retrospective longitudinal analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29, 29-36. DOI: 10.1080/02640414.520726
• Young, B.W., Carey, S., & Medic, N. (2010). Predictors of recreational sport commitment among Ontario Senior Games participants. Conference proceedings for the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology, p. 43.
• Medic, N., Young, B.W., Starkes, J.L., & Weir, P.L. (2010). Persistence and drop-out behaviours of Masters athletes over a four-year period: A self-determination perspective. Proceedings for the International Conference on Self-Determination Theory, p. 119.
• Young, B.W., Medic, N., & Starkes, J.L. (2009). Effects of self-monitoring training logs on behaviors and beliefs of swimmers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21, 413-428.
• Young, B.W., Jemczyk, K., Brophy, K., & CÔté, J. (2009). Discriminating skilled coaching groups: Quantitative examination of developmental experiences and activities. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 4, 397-414.
• Medic, N., Starkes, J.L., Weir, P.L., Young, B.W., & Grove, J.R. (2009). Relative age effect in Masters sports: Replication and extension. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 80, 669-675.
• Medic, N., Young, B.W., Starkes, J. L., Weir, P. L., & Grove, J.R. (2009). Gender, age, and sport differences in the relative age effect among USA Masters swimming and track and field athletes. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27, 1535-1544.
• Young, B.W. (2009). Exploring the effects of self-monitoring logbooks on behavioral change in sport training. Canadian Psychology, 50 (2a), S202.
• Young, B.W., Medic, N., Cameron, S., Theberge, I., & Latham, C. (2009). Exploring perceived barriers to sport involvement amongst Ontario Senior Games participants. Annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology. Toronto, ON.
• Young, B.W., Medic, N, Weir, P.L., & Starkes, J.L. (2008). Explaining performance in elite middle-aged runners: Contributions from age, ongoing and past training factors. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 30, 1-20.
• Young, B.W., Weir, P.L., Starkes, J.L., & Medic, N. (2008). Does lifelong training temper age-related decline in sport performance? Interpreting differences between cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Experimental Aging Research, 34(1), 1-22.
• Young, B.W., & Medic, N. (2008). The motivation to become an expert athlete: How coaches can promote long-term commitment. In Farrow, D., Baker, J., & MacMahon, C. (Eds.), Developing elite sports performers: Lessons from theory and practice (pp. 43-59). New York: Routledge.
• Medic, N., Starkes, J.L., & Young, B.W. (2007). Examining relative age effects on performance achievement and participation rates of Masters athletes. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(12), 1377-1384.
• CÔté, J., Young, B.W., Duffy, P., & North, J. (2007). Towards a definition of excellence in sport coaching.  International Journal of Coaching Science, 1, 3-18.
• Young, B.W., & Starkes, J.L. (2006). Measuring outcomes of swimmers’ non-regulation during practice: Relationships between self-report, coaches’ judgments, and video-observation. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 1(2), 131-148.
• Starkes, J.L., Weir, P.L., & Young, B.W. (2003). What does it take for older athletes to continue to excel? In J.L. Starkes & K.A. Ericsson (Eds.), Expert performance in sports: Advances in research on sport expertise (pp.251-272). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Research Grant Projects

Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) – Sport Participation Research Initiative entitled “Lifespan analyses of social influence on the sport commitment and participation of Masters Athletes” (Young, B.W., Starkes, J.L, & Medic, N.) - $ 60,601 (Jan 2008 - Dec 2010)

Overview of Research: Masters Sport represents an organized venue in which individuals over the age of 35 yrs might realize benefits from regular moderate to highly vigorous exercise, and in which they might pursue goal-oriented competitive activities. While it is common for older individuals to reduce physical activity levels, Masters Athletes continue to remain highly involved in physical activity across the lifespan. This research is interested in the social conditions that support involvement in Masters Sport programs at different decades of life, and which sustain involvement over time. Empirical questions consider how various groups or agents in an athlete’s social environment (e.g., coach, training partners, sport club members, spouse, children, other family members, non-sport peers) contribute to athletes’ motivation and sport commitment. A goal is to better understand whether there are differences in perceived social support associated with Masters Athletes in older (60s, 70s yrs of age) vs. younger (40s, 50s) groups. Cross-sectional analyses will describe which groups or agents of social support are more important for encouraging sport involvement at different decades across the lifespan. Investigators are also interested in whether Masters’ motives are always functional (i.e., they ‘want to’) or whether they report feeling obligated to continue in sport (they ‘have to’). Finally, the research entails a longitudinal examination of how changes in levels of social support influence levels of commitment and ultimately the degree of involvement have in sport over a one-year period. The findings of this research will be of interest to sport and community programmers who might employ strategies to make the social context more inviting for increased participation, especially at older ages. Specifically, sport policy makers might better understand the various people or groups that should surround an athlete during various decades of life to make sport a more attractive pursuit, as well as those agents in the social environment who are associated with commitment and continued involvement in sport.