It has been demonstrated that the 14 dropout factors play an important role in preventing young people from dropping out of sport and that they work in practice. These are the following factors:

  1. Autonomy – Ensure that the young person develops a sense of freedom. Give them a choice in their own actions, thoughts and feelings when engaging in sport. Give young people the opportunity to take initiative and allow them to determine the direction themselves and organise themselves.
  2. Perceived competence/self-efficacy – Every young person wants to have confidence in their ability to achieve a challenging task or a predetermined goal. Young people want to have confidence in mastering specific skills or controlling a challenging situation that they are carrying out.
  3. Relatedness – Every young person wants to feel that they are included in the team or are part of the club. Young people should feel warmth, affection, safety and acceptance, both independently and with others.
  4. (Task) climate – Every young person wants to receive positive encouragement and appreciation from their environment when they work hard; show progress in their development; learn through cooperation and believe that everyone's contribution is important.
  5. Time/goal conflict – Every young person wants to be able to organise their time in such a way that it is possible to continue participating in sport and physical activity. Sports providers can best offer activities at suitable, flexible and accessible times for young people, so that they can continue to participate. Clubs should take into account the different levels at which young people practise the sport as much as possible (recreational, advanced and selection).
  6. Costs – Every young person must be able to afford the costs of remaining involved and taking part in sport. Sports providers should keep participation costs low, so that this does not constitute a barrier to young people engaging in physical activity.
  7. Expectations – Every young person wants to know and understand what they can expect from the club when they become a member. Expectations should be clear on a physical, social and mental level. Sports clubs can be expected to take differences in young people's expectations into account, depending on age, gender and socioeconomic status. Meet young people halfway as much as possible in this regard.
  8. Values – Every young person should believe in the value of sport and physical activity. They should know that taking part in sport and physical activity is important in life. Sports providers can highlight the benefits of participating in sport and physical activity.
  9. Coach–young person relationship – Every young person wants to have an effective relationship with the trainer and/or coach. An effective relationship includes basic ingredients such as empathy, honesty, support, enjoyment, kindness, acceptance, responsiveness, cooperation, care, respect and positive insight (e.g. Jowett & Cockerill, 2003; Jowett & Meek, 2000).
  10. Peer involvement – Every young person wants to be able to participate in sport together with friends. Young people should be encouraged by other players and vice versa. Young people do not want to be bullied or feel uncomfortable when participating. For this reason, sports providers should offer opportunities for young people to interact with one another and make friends. This can be formal (organised, planned and evaluated) or informal (unplanned).
  11. Parental autonomy support – Every parent/carer should encourage their child to take part in sport and physical activity. Parents and carers should provide support (transport, equipment, etc.) where possible, so that their child can participate. Clubs can accommodate parents by being accessible, keeping the cost of practising the sport affordable and being attractive to families.
  12. Preventive policy – Every club should have a policy to prevent young people from dropping out, based on the factors that cause this. A club should aim to prevent young people from dropping out. Young people can act as ambassadors for participation and remain continuously involved with the club.
  13. Accessibility – The sports facility should be safe and conveniently located, so that every young person can reach it and feel safe and accepted there.
  14. Type of sport or provision – Every young person wants to be able to participate in a sport they enjoy. They also want to be able to practise this sport at their own level (recreational, competitive, etc.) and at the level at which they feel most comfortable. Focus on combinations of sports, after-school sports provision or innovative provision. In addition, young people enjoy new activities, trends and developments.

It has been demonstrated that these 14 factors play an important role in preventing young people from dropping out of sport and that they work in practice. Various associations in Europe have already experienced that these factors really do work to engage and retain young people in sport. At www.keepyoungstersinvolved.eu you can find all the information about this special project. In addition to the Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, Finland, Portugal and Ireland were involved in the project. The results were presented this spring during the ‘Keep Youngsters Involved in Sport’ conference, held on 14 and 15 March at Only Friends sports club in Amsterdam.

The card game can be downloaded here. For the accompanying methodologies, click here.

View here the infographic illustrating the main outlines of the project;

Also watch this video, in which Dutch young people aged 12 to 16 explain what they consider important in sport. And this impression of the conference.