Abstract

Ice hockey is a very popular hobby among Finnish boys However there are concerns over these young athletes well-being In this article we discuss the offerings of positive psychology to sports How to use positive and strength-based approaches to enhance well-being and joy of playing among junior ice hockey players We introduce our ideas based on the development work in collaboration with the Finnish Ice Hockey Association and our earlier research on the theme Martin Seligman s PERMA theory serves as the theoretical basis of our research According to the theory well-being is construct of five elements positive emotions engagement relationships meaning and accomplishment that we operationalize into practices to be used in junior ice hockey The theoretical review shows that operationalizing the PERMA theory offers a fruitful way of combining the scientific and theoretical expertise with the knowledge about ice hockey or any sports in practice Our goal is to achieve significant results and success stories that do not only tell about success in sports such as ice hockey but as positive development as players and persons in general