Abstract
Masters athletes are a unique group of older adults whose experiences may provide valuable insights into the role of sport for successful aging. The purpose of this study was to explore whether masters athletes' social and psychological experiences vary with their time, frequency, and perceived exertion in training and competition. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 men and women older masters athletes, aged 50–79 years (M = 66), who were active at the competitive level across a variety of sports (e.g., volleyball, curling, rowing, dragon boating, running, swimming, and basketball) at the time of the study. Results indicate that all participants experienced social and psychological benefits from engaging in masters sport. Only the high-frequency engagement subgroup (participating five to seven times per week in training and/or competition) reported social downsides, in terms of missing time with family and friends outside of masters sport. However, some participants described the positive family support (e.g., spouse who endorses sport participation) that overrides some of the social costs. These findings have implications for realizing positive experiences with minimal engagement in masters sport, yet an apparent threshold of participation beyond which negative social consequences may be experienced. This is an important consideration for the design and promotion of sport for older adults.
Highlights
The rate of sport participation continues to steadily decline with age in several countries, including Canada (Statistics Canada, 2020)
There was evidence of psychological and social benefits, and social downsides only, with no indication of psychological downsides among the sample of participants. Whether they were engaged in their sport one to two times per week (n = 5), three to four times per week (n = 15), or five to seven times weekly (n = 19), experienced positive psychological benefits, described as stress relief, greater self-confidence, and a sense of pride
The findings revealed no apparent variation in the psychological benefits experienced by older athletes who train and compete as little as one to two times per week, three to four times per week, and as much as five or more times per week
Summary
The rate of sport participation continues to steadily decline with age in several countries, including Canada (Statistics Canada, 2020). Despite this steady drop in participation, there is a unique cohort—and upward trend (Dionigi et al, 2018)—of adults who continue with competitive sport past the typical age for top performance (Weir et al, 2010; Dionigi et al, 2013). Individuals who continue to train and participate in athletic competitions designed for older participants are masters athletes. Eligibility for masters competition is based on age, with the minimum qualifying category as young as 30 years, this differs across sports (e.g., swimming, athletics, and basketball; Weir et al, 2010). The focus of this paper is masters athletes aged 50 years and older; a cohort that Dionigi (2006) and Dionigi et al (2018) distinguish as “older” (vs. younger and mid-life) masters athletes, and an age that represents a critical point for reduced cardiac output (Nikolaidis et al, 2018).
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