Good leadership is necessary for athletes to develop and perform in their sport. Crucial components of leadership are communication, motivating athletes and unleashing their potential for personal growth and well-being. Sport leaders define and shape the environment that influences the need fulfillment of youth athletes to feel safe, to learn and to perform. However, inappropriate or devaluating communication may thwart youth athlete’s needs. Due to various supporting and thwarting factors, good sports leadership of youth athletes is not yet framed in a specific leadership style. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted to examine supportive and thwarting factors in leadership in youth sport leadership, i.e., for teenage athletes aged 10-18 years. The final selection included 14 studies that focused on various supporting and thwarting factors in leadership in youth sport leadership. The different factors were summarized and compared with different leadership styles. Most studies show the need for autonomy-supportive behavior and aversion to controlling behavior of the sport leader. Besides, the results indicate that a transformational leadership style followed by a transactional leadership style covered most needs of youth athletes. The review unfolds, however, a lack of input from non-Western countries. Implications for practice, policy and future research are discussed.