Secondary school students' participation in sports and their parents' level of support: a qualitative study from six Adelaide schools

Date

2011

Authors

Maniam, Vegneskumar

Editors

Advisors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Type:

Conference paper

Citation

Edited Proceedings of the 27th ACHPER International Conference: Moving, Learning & Achieving, held in Adelaide, 18-20 April, 2011 / G.D.Dodd (ed.): pp.66-77

Statement of Responsibility

Vegneskumar Maniam

Conference Name

Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation International Conference (27th : 2011 : Adelaide)
ACHPER 2011

Abstract

The study investigated student involvement in sports as part of co-curricular activities in the school and outside, and the effect of parental support upon their child’s sport participation. The purpose of the study was to investigate in-depth the views of year 11 students from six Adelaide schools about their parents’ influence on their participation in sport. The schools agreed to allow their students to participate on a voluntary basis. The primary data was gathered from 111 students in the form of written personal statements in response to the researcher’s open-ended guideline questions, based on the humanistic sociological approach of studying respondents’ personal perspectives on a particular phenomenon. The 80% of respondents who claimed to play sport were involved in a total of 23 different sports, with soccer being the most frequently mentioned (29%). Parental support for sports participation was evident in 89% of their comments, but only 11% of parents played an active role. The 20% of respondents who did not play sport all attended schools where participation in sport was not compulsory. The negative family constraints identified by 15% of respondents referred to issues such as lack of parental interest in sport, concerns about safety, maintaining a balance between sport and other areas of life, and the cost involved.

School/Discipline

School of Education

Dissertation Note

Provenance

Description

Access Status

Rights

Copyright 2011 ACHPER National and individual authors. Copyright in each of the papers printed herein is retained.by the respective authors.

License

Grant ID

Published Version

Call number

Persistent link to this record