Abstract
BackgroundLeisure-time physical activity and sport participation trends are often reported, both in aggregate and by specific activity. Recently there has been a rise in overall leisure-time physical activity, but little change in the prevalence of organised sport. It is important that the development of sport policy, infrastructure and strategic developments meet the changing landscape of participation. However, there has been relatively little research into the settings in which people participate. The aim of this study is to investigate the settings of participation of children and adults in 12 major Australian sports.MethodsThis study utilised data about participation in sport and recreational physical activity collected in the AusPlay survey from a representative sample of adults and children in the Australian state of Victoria. For each type of physical activity, the settings of participation are identified. Respondents can report participation in a particular activity in more than one setting. Therefore we use the term “instance of participation” to refer to a person playing a particular sport in a particular setting. Participation and settings across 12 major sports were investigated for children and adults.ResultsFor children, the most popular sport was swimming with a weighted estimate of 323,565 (30.3%) instances of participation in the Victorian population, followed by Australian football (n = 180,459; 16.9%), and basketball (n = 137,169; 12.9%). For adults the most popular sports were swimming (n = 703,950; 30.9%) followed by golf (n = 274,729; 12.1%), and tennis (n = 260,814; 11.4%). There were considerable differences between the profiles of settings of participation for the 12 sports. Across the 12 sports, the majority of participation by children took place within a sports club or association setting, representing 63% of all instances of sport participation. For adults, sports clubs and associations was also the most popular setting, but it represented only 37% of instances of participation.ConclusionsTraditionally, community clubs and inter-club competitions provided the main setting for sport participation, but this is no longer the case, particularly for adults. If the community sport sector is to continue to flourish, it must consider new strategies and participation options more attractive to other segments of its potential market.
Highlights
Leisure-time physical activity and sport participation trends are often reported, both in aggregate and by specific activity
It is important that the development of sport policy, infrastructure and strategies meets the changing landscape of participation and that sport organisations understand the total picture of participation in sport across different settings, and the implications for their operations and their provision of facilities and programs
The aim of this study is to investigate the settings of participation of children and adults in major Australian sports
Summary
Leisure-time physical activity and sport participation trends are often reported, both in aggregate and by specific activity. There has been a rise in overall leisure-time physical activity, but little change in the prevalence of organised sport. The national Australian sport policy has recently redefined the definition of sport to be more inclusive of a wider range of physical activities. Recently Sport Australia developed a new plan, Sport 2030 [1]. In this policy, “sport” was redefined as an umbrella term for recreational physical activity, which is more consistent with established use of the term internationally. The new definition of sport is broader, including both organised competitive sports as previously, and encompassing a broad range of other recreational physical activities, such as walking, riding, swimming, “ninja’ style obstacle courses and stand-up paddle boarding [1]
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