A resilience program for adolescents in organised sport

Adolescents (aged 12-18) will be exposed to a brief (up to 1 hour) resilience workshop delivered face-to-face (e.g., at a sporting club), and supplemented by six online/mobile app modules - each of which take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The program aims to provide adolescents with mental skills for coping with adversity and building resilience through sport. The workshop is delivered by a trained facilitator and involves interactive tasks to establish the need and context for subsequent engagement with the online/app-based resources. For example, this session considers the need for resilience in sport and other domains of life through videos, stories from athletes, and identifying challenges and obstacles that adolescents are likely to face. The adolescents are then provided with access to the supplementary modules to complete on their own. These resources are accessed through the Ahead of the Game website (www.aheadofthegame.org.au) or by downloading the Ahead of the Game app. The workshop aims to conclude by working through the first module (“problem-solving in sport”) to help the adolescents become familiar with the content and login process. Each module consists of instructional videos, stories from athletes, as well as reflective activities and exercises to try on their own. These modules take approximately 10 minutes to complete, and address 6 topics in the following order: (1) “problem-solving in sport”; (2) “controlling the controllables”; (3) “how to manage your thoughts”; (4) “keeping your cool in sport”; (5) “playing to your strengths”; and (6) “appreciating your team”. Each module needs to be completed (in this order) before participants can begin the next. Participants are expected to complete the modules within two weeks. Together, this program aims to provide adolescents with skills and strategies for building resilience which can be applied to their own participation in sport (e.g., dealing with injury), as well as helping them cope with adversity in other domains of life (e.g., school, work). All participants will be drawn from organised sporting clubs in New South Wales, Australia. Fidelity of program delivery is monitored via checklists which are completed by the presenter following each workshop. Adolescent attendance at workshops is monitored by the facilitator. Fidelity to protocol of online components is monitored by completion of the modules online or via the Ahead of the Game app.