The general perception and anecdotal evidence suggests that upon leaving secondary school, people participate less in sports. The decline in physical activity and participation in sport among young people has been discussed in the media during recent decades. This result of decreased physical activity with an increase in age indicates that life stages or demands influence sport participants, and thus would suggest decreased sport participation could be addressed accordingly. However, the evidence of decreased sport participation is scarce. This study attempts to address the gap in the literature of youth sport participation, and attempts to investigate the transition from secondary school to post-secondary school. The study attempts to answer what levels of participation occur in the youth, what patterns exist for youth participation, and what factors contribute to sport participation withdrawal in the youth.
Purpose
The aim of this research was to address the following questions:
1.1 Is there a significant reduction in sport participation in the post-secondary school age group?
1.2 What patterns of sport participation are evident for the post-secondary school age group?
1.3 What factors impact on sport participation for the post-secondary school age group?
Methodology
An extensive desk study (literature review) was undertaken to search for existing answers to the above questions. Following the literature review that found a lack of studies answering the above questions an online questionnaire was conducted to answer the above questions.
In August 2011, an online questionnaire was opened and closed a few months later. A total of 992 responses were gathered. Data was additionally cleaned for responses from each question. The number of usable responses are far in excess required for statistical analysis, thus the data and statistical analysis can be relied upon.