Mental Health Guidelines for Youth Sport

Mental health belongs in every youth sport program.

Youth sport reaches more than 27 million young people a year, yet there is no national standard for the quality of that experience. These seven guidelines — developed in conjunction with the top experts in youth sport and mental health in the country, using an evidence-based protocol — define what a psychologically healthy program looks like, and how to enhance the sport experience for young people.

Read the guidelines Assess your program

The seven guidelines

What a psychologically healthy program does

Each guideline pairs a plain-language standard with the evidence behind it and an implementation protocol. Start with a foundational level across all seven, then go deeper.

01 Safeguarding & Abuse Prevention Youth sport programs comply with best practices in safeguarding and abuse prevention. 02 Alignment with Long-Term Athlete Development Youth sport programs are aligned to long-term athlete development models. 03 Coach Development for Supportive Coaching Youth sport programs require and support their coaches to engage in ongoing coach development in methods that promote safe and supportive coaching. 04 Mental Health Literacy Training Youth sport programs require and support their key actors to engage in mental health literacy training. 05 Mental Health Crisis Response Training Youth sport programs require and support mental health crisis response training for organizational leaders who work directly with young people. 06 Locating Resources & Services Youth sport programs document where mental health resources and services can be located. 07 Mental Health Emergency Action Planning Youth sport programs have an emergency action plan that includes mental health.

How to use this

Implementation is a continuum

No program is expected to do everything at once. The recommended approach is to reach a foundational level across all seven guidelines first, then progressively deepen. Most organizations will find they are already strong in some areas — start by finding those.

Stage 01

Foundational

The entry point. The basic protection or plan that should exist before a season starts.

Stage 02

Developing

No longer a one-off. Responsibility is named, training happens, the work repeats reliably.

Stage 03

Established

Embedded in the annual cycle — audited, surveyed or rehearsed on a schedule.

Stage 04

Advanced

Shapes how the organization runs: evaluation, hiring, referrals and operations reflect it.

Stage 05

Long-term sustainability

Survives staff turnover and keeps improving. A model others can learn from.

Find your current stage

Guidelines were created by experts across youth sport and mental health

If someone needs help right now

Immediate support

These lines are free, confidential and available 24/7. If there is immediate danger to life, call 911.

  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
    Call or text 988
  • Crisis Text Line
    Text HOME to 741741
  • Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ youth)
    1-866-488-7386
  • SAMHSA National Helpline
    1-800-662-4357

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