Reimagining Youth Sport as a Brain-Based Environment for Mental Health

Featuring: Megan Bartlett, MA

Learning Objectives: 

1. Explain how stress and adversity influence youth brain development and behavior using principles from developmental neuroscience and the Neurosequential Model.
2. Analyze how sport environments can function as contexts for regulation, connection, and resilience through relationships, movement, and manageable stress.
3. Identify coaching practices that support psychological safety, autonomy, belonging, and competence in youth sport settings.
4. Apply brain-based coaching strategies to design sport experiences that promote youth mental health and positive development.