Stories from the Margins: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Talent Development and Youth Development in Sport

Abstract

All too often, the Sport for Development (SfD) field minimizes talent development and competition in lieu of youth development. In this article, we deconstruct assumptions about what is important for young people who are marginalized to learn and experience as they grow up, along with the role of talent development and competition in an SfD intervention, by centering their stories. The young people featured in these stories experience marginalization because of their race, ethnicity, and parents’ country of origin (outside the United States), among other factors that play a role in their everyday lives, and yet their stories highlight the symbiotic relationship between talent development and youth development.

1. Introduction

Sport for Development (SfD) is defined as the intentional use of sport to attain development and/or social change outcomes (Schulenkorf et al., 2016). This includes individual outcomes that support positive youth development (PYD), such as positive identity, self-regulation, and leadership development, along with broader outcomes like social cohesion, gender equity, and community development. A mantra in SfD is ‘the power of sport’, yet some of the most powerful features are deemphasized to “optimize the attainment of developmental goals” (Camiré, 2015, p. 30). For example, there is often a reduced focus on the development of technical and tactical sport skills, in lieu of activities that support development in the cognitive, affective, social, and/or lifestyle domains (Bailey, 2006; Whitley et al., 2019). However, the drive to improve as an athlete is often what draws young people in and keeps them engaged (Camiré, 2015; Whitley et al., 2018). Talent development, defined as “the multi-faceted process of optimally nurturing athletes over time” (Baker et al., 2021, p. 8), emphasizes development in multiple domains, from physiological capabilities, technical skills, and tactical skills to psychological skills such as communication, self-regulation, and resilience. So talent development should not be viewed as oppositional to SfD, but rather in support of the development and social change outcomes that SfD interventions are seeking to achieve. Additionally, competition is frequently deemphasized in SfD interventions, even though healthy competition can engage and incentivize young people to participate, serve as a powerful teaching tool, and—when talent is nurtured and on display—increase feelings of competence (Camiré, 2015; Whitley et al., 2018). Also, de-emphasizing competition may be futile, as participants often keep score informally and compare themselves with others. Might it be prudent for SfD interventions to embrace talent development, competition, and youth development as complimentary goals (Whitley et al., 2018)?

Perhaps one reason why talent development and competition are deemphasized is the positioning of SfD as a separate track from more ‘traditional’ youth sports, with SfD targeting populations that are perceived to be impoverished, disempowered, and problematic, while the neoliberal youth sports realm is designed for mainstream, middle-class youth (Hartmann & Kwauk, 2011; Spaaij, 2009; Whitley, 2025). While the ‘traditional’ youth sports track leans into talent development and competition, SfD interventions focus more on development and social change outcomes—particularly self-improvement and self-management skills that will help disempowered young people navigate the existing social order (Hartmann & Kwauk, 2011; Jeanes et al., 2019; Nols et al., 2017; Parker et al., 2019). This often occurs through didactic teaching pedagogies grounded in neocolonial or neoliberal philosophies, with the belief that ‘normative life skills’ will help participants develop into mature, disciplined, productive community members (Camiré, 2023; Parker et al., 2019; Spaaij & Jeanes, 2013). Because of the presumed importance of developing these skills, talent development and competition tend to be eschewed despite their inherent developmental properties, not only in practice but by researchers as well.

For example, researchers have explored the role of talent development and competition in ‘traditional’ youth sports as it relates to the development of young people from more privileged backgrounds and communities (e.g., Camiré, 2015), and there has even been discussion of integrating positive youth development into formal talent development programs (Harwood et al., 2024). Yet, there is a gap in the literature when it comes to talent development and competition for those who are marginalized. One exception comes in the systems theory of development through sport for traumatized and disadvantaged youth, which was developed by Whitley et al. (2018) based on years of research in the field. They highlighted how talent development and competition are “imperative for the level of engagement needed to eventually promote PYD outcomes” (p. 121). Additionally, Book et al. (2022) explored the reality of what they termed underserved athletic talent development environments (UATDEs) and the impact on athletes if they continue playing in college and at professional levels of sport. They indicated that UATDEs must recognize and address the psychosocial vulnerability athletes may have through a focus on personal development, while also supporting their drive to excel as athletes. An athletic environment may be the only domain where athletes who are marginalized feel a sense of hope that they can be successful, even if they do not have the athletic prowess to achieve their dreams. Hope can be a powerful antidote to the negative impacts of discrimination, racism, oppression, and trauma, as it helps athletes cultivate a sense of agency, purpose, motivation, and belief in self (Morgan et al., 2021; Nols et al., 2019). Hope can also help them cope with ongoing challenges of marginalization, build skills for resilience, and promote healing. Yet dreams of athletic success are minimized in SfD interventions, with the assumption that athletes growing up in communities perceived to be more impoverished and disempowered need to let go of these dreams and instead focus on building skills needed for self-improvement and self-management (Hartmann & Kwauk, 2011).

The question is, why are so few SfD interventions emphasizing talent development and competition in their efforts? Another question is, why are so few researchers studying these features in SfD interventions? One reason for the deemphasis of talent development and competition might be that many of the researchers, practitioners (particularly those in leadership roles), and funders in SfD are economically privileged white people, while participants are more often economically oppressed Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC; Anderson et al., 2021; Whitley et al., 2023). And so the assumptions about what young people need are driven by these individuals’ perceptions of what is ‘important’, rather than those who are experiencing these realities every day. This dominant, paternalistic approach is the norm in SfD, rather than the exception, given its history of inequality and colonialism where ‘the Other’ is silenced and agency is denounced (Darnell & Hayhurst, 2011; Hayhurst, 2016; hooks, 1992; Jeanes et al., 2013; Spaaij et al., 2016; Whitley, 2025).

In this article, we deconstruct these assumptions about what is important for young people who are marginalized to learn and experience as they grow up, along with the role of talent development and competition in an SfD intervention. We do this by taking on a “participatory, collaborative, destabilizing approach” called for by Hayhurst (2016, p. 439) and others (e.g., Darnell et al., 2016; Spaaij et al., 2018), where we move our “findings toward that which is not yet imagined, not yet in practice, not yet in sight” (Fine et al., 2008, p. 169). We do this through narrative inquiry, which is an innovative qualitative methodology that centers the subjective, lived experiences of SfD participants, and their meaning-making processes (Smith & Sparkes, 2009a). The young people featured in these stories were not merely research subjects, but active contributors in shaping their representation (Darnell et al., 2016), resulting in narratives that are deeply rooted in their lived experiences and expressed in their own terms. Their role as co-authors is in stark contrast to the marginalization they face in their everyday lives due to their race, ethnicity, and parents’ country of origin (outside the United States).

The South Bronx United Academy

South Bronx United (SBU) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization located in the South Bronx of New York City. It was founded in 2009 and has over 1700 children and young people, aged 2–24, engaged in soccer, academics and college preparation, mentoring, and workforce development programs every year. SBU also offers immigration legal services and other support services. The SBU Academy is the organization’s core program, serving just under 200 male and female middle and high school students each year outside of school time (i.e., after-school, weekends, and summers). The SBU Academy serves low-income, immigrant, and first-generation youth who try out for one of the competitive travel soccer teams and, if they make the team, also have access to mentoring, academic enrichment, tutoring, college preparation, and youth services. Youth are required to participate in academic enrichment programming twice a week during the school year in order to be eligible to play in competitive games each weekend, with soccer practices also offered twice weekly. Additionally, youth can choose to take part in a five-week camp, called Summer Soccer Scholars, that has a focus on academics, health, and soccer. In the SBU Academy, coaches oversee the soccer programming, while there is a wide range of full-time staff, part-time staff, and volunteers leading the other intervention components, with an explicit focus on integration, rather than isolation, of all intervention elements. This is achieved through ongoing communication across the organization, training for all individuals engaged in the intervention, and strategic planning by organization leaders.

2. Methods

2.1. Narrative Inquiry

This study was underpinned by philosophical assumptions of ontological relativism (i.e., there are multiple, created, mind-dependent realities) and epistemological constructionism (i.e., knowledge is socially constructed and subjective) (Smith & Sparkes, 2009a). In line with these assumptions, narrative inquiry was utilized as it uncovers the complex, subjective experiences of others through storytelling and dialogue, with a particular focus on capturing voices, stories, and meaning making (Smith & Sparkes, 2009a). This allows knowledge producers who are often overlooked to challenge the stories told about them and instead share their understandings and lived experiences so often lost when using a more traditional approach that seeks a universal truth through a positivist/post-positivist paradigm (Lang & Pinder, 2017; Smith & Sparkes, 2009b). In contrast, an interpretive paradigm underpins narrative inquiry, with knowledge understood as a social construction that is multiple and subjective (Smith & Sparkes, 2009b). In essence, being human is messy and complex, and sharing stories created through narrative inquiry prompts the sociological imagination (Lang & Pinder, 2017; Mills, 1970). Readers enter into their worlds through stories that are more accessible, vivid, emotive, and embodied than what is typically produced in academic writing, allowing for a deeper understanding of their lives and their identities (Carless et al., 2014). This is a sharp contrast to the concerns cited about SfD research being seen as “esoteric and specialist, and not accessible” (Cronin, 2011, p. 13).

This narrative inquiry draws from a larger study that sought to understand the impact of the SBU Academy on young people over a two-year period. The four young people featured in this paper, along with the significant others they identified, were part of the larger study led by the lead author (i.e., Meredith), with assent and consent provided for/by all (as needed, based on their age). In Spring 2023, semi-structured interviews were conducted with these four young people, with follow-up interviews conducted with them in Spring 2024 (M = 16 min). Before each interview began, Meredith took time to develop rapport, explain the procedures, and answer questions. During the interviews themselves, richness and depth of the responses were prioritized over the length of the interviews. A developmentally attuned interview guide was created that fostered candor, maintained comfort, and allowed for strategic use of age-appropriate elicitation techniques (Alderson & Morrow, 2011; Spratt et al., 2004). Questions included the following: (a) Can you tell me about yourself?; (b) Can you talk about your family? Your friends? Your school?; (c) How does SBU fit into your life?; (d) Can you describe your experiences in SBU Academy; (e) Have you changed or learned from your time at SBU Academy? If so, please describe.

When their interviews in Spring 2024 were concluded, they were asked to identify individuals who would be able to answer questions about their lives outside of SBU, as well as their engagement in the SBU Academy. This resulted in the following interviews (M = 24 min) for each student: (a) two staff members for Jaime; (b) two coaches for Denisse; (c) one coach, two staff members, and one sister for Lizeth; and (d) one coach, one staff member, and the mother of Kevin. These four young people were asked to join as co-authors because they offered unique experiences and perspectives about the intersection of talent development and youth development, while also uncovering a collective story about a competitive SfD intervention. Some of the questions they were asked included the following: (a) Can you describe your relationship with [young person]? (b) Can you share what you know about [young person’s] background?; (c) What is the role of SBU Academy in their life?; and (d) Do you think [young person] has changed while in SBU Academy? Why or why not? If so, how?

2.2. Narrative Analysis

In contrast to thematic analysis, where patterns and themes are identified in the data, narrative analysis explores how people make sense of their experiences, recognizing stories are powerful tools for knowledge dissemination (Riessman, 2008; Rodríguez-Dorans & Jacobs, 2020). Throughout the analytic process, Meredith embraced her role as a story analyst, not storyteller, with the goal of jointly constructing the participants’ stories (McGannon & Smith, 2015; Smith, 2016). In essence, she became a facilitator and collaborator (Spaaij & Jeanes, 2013; Spaaij et al., 2016). She recognized that her own lived experiences affect the research process, which required awareness of her positionality and engagement in reflexive practice. She is a white university professor and former college athlete and coach with extensive experience in qualitative research and working in partnership with SfD practitioners. Throughout this study, she engaged in a reflexive process not only about her own identity and social position (McGannon & Smith, 2015), but also about “power and difference and their impact on interpersonal and institutional relationships” (Spaaij et al., 2018, p. 28).

The eight interviews with students and 11 interviews with secondary participants were transcribed verbatim, and then Meredith drafted stories based on each set of interviews for each young person. This began with (re)reading the interview transcripts, listening to the audio recordings, and noting keywords, phrases, quotes, and ideas that represented each young person and their story (Blodgett et al., 2011). Then, Meredith took an iterative approach as she reorganized the words, phrases, and sentences from the interviews to make connections within each set of interviews (Fitzgerald & Stride, 2012). Over time, individual ‘portraits’ emerged of each young person’s life and identity (Ely et al., 1997), with quotes from the significant others who were interviewed weaved into the story. Then, Meredith connected with the young people once again, this time inviting them to engage in a co-participatory process and dialogue through the co-production of their stories, where they revised the stories to ensure they were told by them, not for or about them (Blodgett et al., 2011; Peacock et al., 2018). Co-production was achieved by first sharing the drafts of their stories and then joining for a writing workshop where Meredith and all four young people worked together on revising or re-writing their stories (with the young people taking ownership over their individual stories). In this way, the young people became the storytellers and their stories are the objects of enquiry (Smith & Sparkes, 2009a). The names used in the stories below are their real names, and these young people are co-authors of this publication.

To enhance the methodological rigor of this study, the ‘list’ of quality criteria constructed by Smith and colleagues (Smith et al., 2015) were used. These criteria were developed so that stories like those shared herein are “held to high and difficult standards” (Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005, p. 960). Meredith (i.e., story analyst) and the young people (i.e., storytellers) reflected on these criteria while constructing their stories: (a) the extent to which they offer original knowledge or perspectives; (b) the clarity and precision of the research objective; (c) their artistic merit in eliciting reader engagement; (d) the perceived authenticity and believability of their representation of reality; (e) their effectiveness in evoking emotional resonance and raising awareness about the young people and their lives; (f) their capacity to stimulate intellectual curiosity and emotional connection; (g) their potential to generate new research questions; and (h) the degree to which the study achieves its stated purpose in a coherent and meaningful way.

3. The Stories

3.1. Lizeth

I’m the youngest of four (15 when I wrote this story). My parents immigrated from Mexico before I was born. My older sister was part of the SBU Academy and found success both in the classroom and on the field, ultimately enrolling in college after high school. An SBU staff member noted that “families don’t forget that. And once one kid [gets into college], it’s like we’re staying” with SBU because it worked for us. Over the years, SBU has become quite important to my mom, who knows that SBU is “a safe, dependable, reliable place that cares about our family”. SBU is “a third space” where I’m part of a community that I can go to and feel supported or connected… a place to come back to.

This became especially important when my dad had to unexpectedly go away for a year, which took a toll on me and my family. I became quite “distant… and quiet”. During this time, SBU provided as much support as possible for me and my family. Even when my attendance was less consistent because of the challenges we were experiencing, I knew I had a place and a community that was there for me. In the words of an SBU staff member,

“SBU supported her family through this hard time and that has been meaningful. Also, she’s not always the best attendance and yet, we treat her the same… That’s really impactful for kids, where you’re imperfect and still you’re received with unconditional regard. I could see down the line that being something that resonates with her. She always has a home with SBU.”

I made lifelong girlfriends at SBU, and coming to see them is what matters to me the most. But I also recognize the benefits that come from tutoring. For example, it helps manage my time better, because it makes me get work done and go on my phone. I also recognize benefits from Summer Scholar Scholars, which helped me out in math (my hardest subject in school). This really helped me when I got off track academically when my dad had to go away, with SBU staying “on top of homework, on top of attendance…sometimes [in situations like this], parents don’t have the time to connect to her when it comes to that, so SBU plays a role in that”. SBU also created a space where I can be myself, with staff members describing me as “feisty and a truth teller”. Sometimes, this means I don’t make the best decisions, but SBU is there to support me as I figure out my path.

On the field, my coach describes her as “a warrior… who is fearless”, yet I’m also a leader on my team who “never hesitates to show encouragement” and help teammates feel welcome. Becoming a leader on my team has helped me step out of my sister’s shadow at SBU, with my coach telling me,

“I need you to step up here because you can do it, I know you can do it. There’s no reason for you to shy away from it…the girls all respect you. You’re one of the ones who has been with the club for a long time. The girls will listen to you… And so after hearing that, she started giving it a try during the practice sessions. And then it transitioned into games and the girls really respected her for it. Tons of positive encouragement after like, ‘Wow, Lizeth, couldn’t have done it without you.’”

This opportunity to take on a leadership role was pretty powerful for me, especially on a team where “they all come from Hispanic backgrounds”, including my coach. This helped us build closer relationships, because we knew our coach understands what we’re “struggling with, or what [our] parents are struggling with”. My coach has also created an environment where I felt like I was getting better as a soccer player. My coach described a recent conversation we had, when I told him, “I’m really enjoying my soccer. I’m really enjoying playing. You make me feel like I can play at a higher level and I wanna continue my progress”. These feelings made me want to attend practice and games more consistently, so I could keep improving. Feeling a sense of control, a sense of competence, and a sense of belonging was so important to me, especially when hard things were happening at home.

3.2. Denisse

My coaches describe me as cool, calm, collected, and friendly; someone who is mature beyond my years and a talented soccer player. I’m one of three daughters (the middle sister, age 17), and my Mexican American parents worked hard to raise us in the Bronx. Family is a huge source of support for me. They are always there for me, especially my mom. She knows when I’m off, she knows when I’m having trouble with subjects. She always sits me down and talks to me. This support has helped me excel in the classroom and take college-level courses. My parents also encouraged me and my sisters to join the SBU Academy.

I’m now going into my senior year, which means I have been part of the SBU Academy for over 4 years, including several summers in Summer Soccer Scholars. SBU has shaped me to become the person I am now, with one of my teachers even mentioning how impressive it is that I can manage my own schedule and communicate clearly. I developed these skills, along with others, at SBU, and I think they will help me in college next year.

I have also appreciated SBU’s focus on skill development on the field. My coach described how my performance enhanced my confidence: “In the beginning of the season, she moved all over and at first she wasn’t super confident about it. Then, little by little, she started to see how good she was”. I also developed a lot of skills off the field, in other parts of SBU programming, that (in the words of an SBU staff member) “are born through soccer. For her, it’s definitely a conduit to her building self-confidence”.

This includes my development as a leader, which SBU has supported in several ways. First, I have been a captain on every SBU Academy team I’ve played on, so I’ve had a lot of experience as a leader. My coach explained,

“She’s always been a captain. So these are skills she’s been building for a long time, and it shows in so many ways. She’s so mature and is so considered when she deals with things. And is equally as frustrated as she is excited. And she pushes people but not too much. And she delegates but not too much. And she’s the first one to run a lap when she’s messed up. She still gets annoyed, but she manages to strike the balance of knowing that we’ve messed up as a team, so we’re all allowed to be collectively annoyed with [our coach] for making us run. But also recognizing that we have to run because we’ve not been good enough. She manages to toe that line in a really difficult way, where she’s still one of the girls…she’s also part of the leadership team and wanting to see this team grow and knows that the performance wasn’t enough and needs to push them to do better. And she manages to strike that balance in a way that’s insanely hard and she does so very well.”

I was also able to participate in leadership workshops at SBU, which bring team captains together with the social worker to improve our leadership skills. Through these workshops, I learned how to become a voice for the girls. I also learned how my words would affect other people, how my actions would affect other people, and how to control my emotions. I used to lash out a lot. Whenever we were losing or whenever I didn’t feel well, I would sub myself out. Instead of motivating the girls and telling them, ‘hey, you can do this.’ I was just lashing out at them. The captain workshops really helped me see their perspective and become somebody they could rely on.

My coach agreed: “I think she’s been able to see herself get better. I think that she is a leader and has grown as a leader through soccer. I think she has learned to advocate for herself and others through soccer which is probably one of the hardest skills to develop, especially at her age. And she’s learned how to do so in a way that is appropriate and constructive rather than lashing out”. I also became more responsible, recognizing that my own actions impact the rest of my team. Basically, SBU taught me what responsibility is, especially because you can’t play in the games if you don’t come to tutoring. Since I’m the captain, I need to come to tutoring so I don’t let down my team. So SBU helped me make that connection between my actions and how they affect others.

My coach shared that, over time, I’ve become “a fan favorite within the team. People love her, people respect her”. I get the team organized for the start of each practice and help teammates talk to each other. I have realized that I’m reliable, and I’ve found my voice to advocate for myself and others. This was, in part, due to my coach not wanting “captains that feel like they just have to listen to what I’m saying. Like I want you to push back when you feel like I’ve made a mistake and, and I’m not perfect I absolutely will make mistakes”. So I speak up about issues and advocate for my teammates. My coach not only encourages captains to speak out about issues, but the entire team to communicate openly with him. He appreciates our feedback; he actually listens to us.

This has transferred off the field as well. I’ve become more of an advocate for myself. I tend to speak to my teachers now and tell them how I feel instead of just shutting them out. I also advocate for others at school. My friends and I usually talk about problems that go on in advisory, and usually tell my advisor, ‘hey, I noticed this was going on. I don’t really like it. I don’t really feel comfortable. Can you say something?’ And usually they do.

These skills will help me in the future. For example, in a future job, I will know how to communicate with my supervisor. When it comes to personal and professional development as a leader, I feel like I’ve grown so much.

3.3. Kevin

I was born and raised in the Bronx and live with my parents (who immigrated from Mexico) and younger sister. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 3 years old, and in the SBU recreational program since I was 9; I’m 16 now. I joined the SBU Academy in the 9th grade, and was incredibly excited because, as my mom says, I “live for soccer”. My family has become a big part of the SBU community, joining many of the events and connecting with other families.

While an SBU staff member described me as someone who has a lot of euphoria and is goofy and funny, he also recognized, “when you strip it back and have real conversations with him, there’s quite a lot of insecurity underneath that. That is probably quite typical for a 16-year-old”. I do struggle with my confidence. The most frustrating part of my life is when I make a mistake in the field during a game and I’m obviously mad at myself. But my teammates are also mad at me, so I feel overwhelmed sometimes. But my coach tells me to be a goldfish. He explained, “even if he messes up, just think about the positive things that he gave and other things that came out of it to be able to keep on playing. And he’s a player, he’s a kid, even if he has a positive and one negative, he would stop on the negative which stops him from doing better things”. But my coach has helped me to see soccer as “a space where [I] can grow and learn and have big mistakes. And nothing will go perfectly all the time”. This perspective has helped me develop a growth mindset in soccer. An SBU staff member agrees that my coach is the key to this growth:

“The boys all love the head coach. I think Kevin’s the one who really, really appreciates the guidance. [The coach] sends him clips from the games and be like, ‘I want you to do this movement a little bit more.’ Little things like that make him feel special. Make him feel like my coach is really invested in me [and notes what I need to work on]. He’s not givin’ up on me or he doesn’t think that I’m not worthy of being here… He wouldn’t care about this if they didn’t think I was good or didn’t think I’d have potential to be something within this program. So I think that relationship with [his coach] has been key for his own internal growth journey within SBU.”

My coach also sees that I’m “one of the hardest workers on the team”, which my teammates have also noticed as I’ve gotten better. They even began giving me compliments and advice, and we have become closer over time. I now believe in myself and my abilities so much more, which means I play better and I have more fun on the field. I’m now in the 11th grade and am hoping to play soccer in college. I also want to make my parents proud by graduating high school and going to college.

3.4. Jaime

I’ve been told my family is the quintessential SBU family. My parents immigrated with my sister from Ecuador, and I was born soon after. As soon as we were old enough, my parents signed us up to SBU’s recreational soccer program followed by pre-academy and then the SBU Academy. An SBU staff member described me as “a model student-athlete in our program”, who is “really smart and mature for his age”. I’m now 13 years old. I love math and am hoping to attend a specialized high school, if I keep my grades up. This is one of many goals I’ve set. I hold myself to a high standard, which matches the familial and cultural expectations placed on me. One Hispanic staff member reflected,

“[The family] puts a lot of pressure on academics because I think that that is the connection to success… There’s a pressure to perform. I really do think it’s a cultural kind of outlook that sometimes our culture has. You have to be the best because we can’t afford to not be the best… For a 13-year-old, that’s a lot to carry. [Kids like that] don’t have as many opportunities as everybody else, so you have to be the best in order to be noticed because a lot of people of color don’t get noticed unless they’re the best of the best. Whereas someone who is white…you just have an opportunity because your parents have it available, they know someone and that’s that. Us, we have to perform always 100%. And if we don’t, then the fear is that you don’t have the same opportunities you might have if you had tried harder.”

My sisters and I have gotten support at the SBU Academy to excel in the classroom, but it’s also been a place where (in the words of an SBU staff member) “he could be himself away from the pressure of… I have to be perfect, I have to do well in school. SBU liberates him from feeling that pressure continuously. I think he’s a good soccer player, he’s able to make friends outside of this whole idea of perfection that is imposed on him by family members”.

Feeling like I belong has been really important to me. My best friends are my teammates. One staff member shared,

“As soon as his friends arrive [at tutoring], he comes to life and that tells me whatever’s happening outside, SBU is a place that he knows that his friends will be at and that we’ll support him… People [at SBU] genuinely care about Jaime… When I look at Jaime, I don’t see Jaime as an outcome and I don’t think that other staff members do. I see Jaime for the person that he is, not for what he’s performing to be and I think that’s what he needs right now. I also think he needs this group of friends that are not as intense. Sometimes you need someone who’s gonna allow you to not be at 100% every single day and you can just goof off a little. That’s okay too, you’re 13 years old.”

I admit I used to be a lot more timid and shy, but SBU taught me to stand up and to speak up for myself. I learned this through the lessons, where they teach us important things. When one of us is feeling a little bit down, they talk to us one-on-one to make us feel better.

I also really enjoy being part of a soccer team, because I come from a soccer family. An SBU staff member noted that how my coach is “very intense”, with high expectations that I try to match, but my coach also provides support that helps me see myself—and my team—getting better. I love being on a team that is getting more competitive! I also appreciate my connection with my coach. We have a good relationship. He’s kind and he jokes around with us. And when we make a mistake, he teaches us how to correct it, and is proud when we are able to improve.

Overall, SBU is just part of my routine. After school, I go to tutoring, then I go to practice. On Saturdays or Sundays, I play games. It’s very fun. During the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 school years, I attended 92% of all tutoring sessions and 95% of soccer sessions, along with 100% of all Summer Soccer Scholars sessions during the summer of 2023. This shows just how consistent and committed I am. SBU is part of my family’s routine as well. My parents attend games and other SBU events. I believe that starting early in the recreational soccer program and taking advantage of all that SBU has to offer over the years has led to so many benefits for me and my family. We are part of this community.

4. Discussion

The focus here is to foreground the stories of Lizeth, Denisse, Jaime, and Kevin, which do not require another layer of analysis and theory. This supports Smith and Sparkes’ (2009a) perspective that “a story is analytic and theoretical” on its own (p. 282). These stories stand on their own, doing the work of analyzing and theorizing, with readers asked to make sense of each story from the reader’s own vantage point—discovering both the familiar and the unknown (Lang & Pinder, 2017; Sparkes, 2002). With that in mind, this paper concludes with reflections from Kevin, with his words highlighting the symbiotic relationship between talent development and youth development—along with the integration of talent development and competition into the complex interaction of interpersonal, contextual, and socio-cultural factors in these young people’s lives (i.e., their ecological framework; Bronfenbrenner, 1995). It is important to highlight that talent development and competition were not the sole focus of these stories, as this “fragmented approach is not how people, programs, or communities work. They are complex, dynamic, and integrated” (Whitley et al., 2022, p. 14). These stories are intersectional, just like the SfD field, and they reveal the benefits that can manifest when the sport component is integrated, rather than siloed. Kevin’s reflections bring this to light.

Kevin’s Reflections

My story, along with the stories of Lizeth, Denisse, and Jaime, show how SBU is more than just a soccer academy; it’s a place where we find support, friendship, and a growth mindset culture, with the expectation that we can/will succeed on the field, in the classroom, and in life. Each of us faced different challenges, from family struggles to self-doubt to academic pressure, yet SBU was a community that believed in us no matter what.

For Lizeth, SBU provided stability during a difficult time in her life through both social and academic support, and displaying her talent in games allowed her to feel a sense of control and competence during an otherwise unpredictable period. On the field, Denisse gained the skills and confidence to become a leader and advocate for herself and others. Through mentorship from my coach and encouragement from my teammates, I gained the confidence to push past my self-doubt and continue to improve as a player. Jaime found relief from high expectations, learning that he does not always have to be perfect to be valued, and he appreciated the chance to train and compete as part of a team, rather than bearing the pressure alone.

Despite our different journeys, there is a common thread that ties us together: SBU is not just about soccer but about connection, mentorship, and growth, with a lasting impact on our lives. It is a place where we are learning resilience, leadership, and the power of community—with these lessons reinforced, if not taught outright, through soccer. The integration of youth development, talent development, and competition in the SBU Academy helps each of us become stronger as individuals who are ready to embrace the opportunities and take on the challenges ahead.