Abstract
This study explores the role of sport experiences in shaping working age adults’ (25-64 years) participation from a social-ecological and life course perspective. The specific objectives of the study were to understand the types of sport experiences that shaped adults’ sport engagement and to understand how these experiences varied across the lifespan. Working age Australians are particularly vulnerable to inactivity due to the occurrence of significant life events and behavioural trajectories, and concerningly, sport participation rates decline throughout this demographic. This study provides an important contribution to sport participation literature by building a comprehensive picture of the role of adults’ sport experiences across multiple social-ecological domains throughout the life course. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sport-active (n = 10) and sport-inactive adults (n = 6) and analysed using thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: (1) Collective effervescence; (2) Family matters; (3) The centrality of sport; and (4) Multifaceted sport identities. Overall, this study found that organised sport participation elicited rich and meaningful experiences for adults that were interlinked with individual, interpersonal, and organisational social-ecological factors that dynamically shaped sport participation across the life course. Adopting social-ecological and life course perspectives to understand the contribution of sport experiences to (re)engagement and (dis)continuation can help inform sports organisations about ways to better support adults and address the critical issue of declining sport participation in this demographic.
Presenters
Sarah CrossmanPhD Candidate, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, South Australia, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Sporting Cultures and Identities
KEYWORDS
Sports Participation, Adults, Experiences, Engagement, Retention
