Caroline Hummell, Corliss Bean

Mentorship has been widely recognized as a key contributor to the positive youth development of girl-identifying youth in non-sport contexts, yet few studies have explored how girls themselves understand and experience mentorship in sport-specific settings. Grounded in a girl-centred, arts-based qualitative approach, this study aimed to understand how self-identifying girl athletes (N = 20; Mage= 13.5 years old) perceive and receive mentorship in the sport environment. A novel drawing method (i.e., Draw a Sport Mentor) was piloted to elicit creative representations of mentorship and uncover potential stereotypes associated with mentor figures in sport. Follow-up focus groups (n = 6, range = 51-74 minutes) provided a space for participants to reflect on their drawings and engage in deeper dialogue about the role of mentorship (or lack thereof) in their sport experiences. Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis, we developed three themes centring around: (a) how girl athletes make meaning of mentorship in sport, (b) how mentorship is experienced by them in sport settings, and (c) how mentorship contributes to their overall psychosocial development through sport. Theoretically, this study highlights the value of using creative methods in amplifying youth voices and provides critical insights for sport knowledge users (e.g., coaches, program staff, funders) seeking to foster meaningful developmental relationships for girl athletes through mentorship. Practically, future research can build on these findings by co-designing mentorship initiatives with girl athletes while exploring how organizational policies can better support inclusive, relationship-centred sport environments for this population.