Ohio State LiFE Sports About Us - Mission & Vision

Mission & Vision:
Many of today's youth are faced with unmet basic needs, involvement with anti-social peers, family conflict and instabilities, as well as a host of emotional, behavioral, and mental health issues and disorders (Doll & Lyon, 1998; Early & Vonk, 2002; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). Out-of-school time youth development programs and organizations have been increasingly identified as important institutions that address these risk factors and promote healthy youth development (Anderson-Butcher et al., 2006).

Although researchers and program administrators have been able to document the positive outcomes for youth, there is still much to learn. Little is known about what program characteristics specifically create positive outcomes for youth, as well as how youth workers can be better prepared and trained so that their interventions and program designs are more likely to create intended outcomes (Anderson-Butcher, Newsome, & Ferrari, 2003; Eccles & Gootman, 2002; Lauer et al., 2006). The field of youth development is still underdeveloped; it needs further research, improvements in program design and practice, and compendium workforce preparation enhancements.

The Ohio State University (OSU) will develop the LiFE Sports Initiative as an innovation approach to achieve the University's land grant mission. Grounded in enhancing scholarship through research, teaching & learning, and service & outreach, the LiFE Sports Initiative is intended to address and meet the needs of today's youth and youth-serving agencies and organizations. More specifically, the LiFE Sports Initiative aims to:

To learn more about the LiFE Sports Initiative, please read our detailed Business Plan.

 

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