Evidence-Based Youth Development
How we
actually
teach.
The publication
Four sport-specific coaching frameworks, grounded in the PCA Double-Goal Coach, ELM, and TDEQ-5 youth development models. Free to read, free to print, free to share.
By Aspire Sports · Powell, Ohio
Contents
Four guides · All sports- 01
Soccer
Technical, tactical, physical, psychological — all four domains of long-term development.
Our complete framework for soccer development, from foundational ball mastery at age four through the tactical understanding that separates good club players from great ones.
"We're building athletes for age 25, not just age 8."
Read guide - 02
Basketball
Shooting form, ball handling, defense, and the game intelligence that wins fourth quarters.
Research-grounded basketball development built on motor learning science. We teach skills in the order the body can actually absorb them — not in the order a drill sheet prescribes.
"Talent is developed, not discovered."
Read guide - 03
Hockey
Skating, stickhandling, shooting, passing — and the defensive positioning that keeps you on the ice.
A progression that treats skating as the foundation it actually is. The kid who can skate confidently backward at age nine is the kid still playing at seventeen. We start there.
"Winning takes care of itself when athletes develop properly."
Read guide - 04
Baseball
Hitting, fielding, pitching, baserunning — age-appropriate progressions, honest about what kids can absorb.
Baseball development that respects how kids learn. Long-term athlete development applied to a sport that too often sacrifices long-term player health for short-term travel-ball glory.
"We never sacrifice long-term development for short-term results."
Read guide
Editorial Statement
Why we publishYouth sports development research shouldn't sit behind a paywall, or a coach's certification class, or inside a travel-team newsletter.
These guides document exactly how we teach the four sports we run. Every progression, every drill, every principle is grounded in published motor learning research and real-world coaching experience. We publish them because parents deserve to see what their kids are actually being taught — and because other coaches who want to do the work should have a starting point that doesn't cost anything.
You are welcome to read, print, share, and adapt these guides for your own organization. Attribution appreciated, not required.