Systematic studies of developmental effects of youth sport programs are scarce. Evaluation research is necessary to show whether youth who participate in a life skills program experience positive developmental outcomes. According to Petitpas et al. (2005), positive youth development is most likely to occur when young people are (a) engaged in a desired activity within an appropriate environment (context), (b) surrounded by caring adults and a positive community (external resources), and (c) learning skills that are important for managing life situations (internal assets). The First Tee uses golf as a context and coaches as external resources to teach life skills (internal assets) to youth so that positive psychosocial and behavioral outcomes are maximized. To accomplish its goals, The First Tee Life Skills Experience provides the core lessons for teaching interpersonal, self-management, and goal setting skills (internal assets). The First Tee Coach Program provides the training and youth-centered philosophy to ensure that life skills and positive social-psychological qualities occur (external assets). The First Tee Nine Core Values represent positive youth development outcomes: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, courtesy, judgment, confidence, responsibility, and perseverance. The purpose of our research was to document the effectiveness of The First Tee life skills programs. We specified three study purposes: (a) What impact do The First Tee life skills programs have on positive youth development? (b) What is unique about The First Tee life skills programs that make an impact on youth development? (c) What improvements are suggested for the life skills curriculum and delivery? We interviewed 95 youth (ages 11-17), 26 coaches, and 24 parents. We used interviews because they yield substantial information, empower respondents by allowing information to emerge from them, and enable a viable method for learning about program effectiveness. Consistent with the core lesson content of The First Tee Life Skills Experience, we assessed how knowledgeable and skilled youth participants were in using life skills in the golf context and in other domains such as home and school. Inductive content analysis was used to interpret the data and identify emerging themes. We followed step-by-step guidelines based on recommendations from methodologists (e.g., Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993) and used previously in our youth sport research (e.g., Weiss, Smith, & Theeboom, 1996). The remaining presentations focus upon key results obtained from youth participants, coaches, and parents, respectively.Keyword(s): youth sports