Campus Recreational Sports Research Articles

Perception Matters: Attitudes Toward Transgender Inclusion in Campus Recreational Sports

The participation of transgender individuals in sporting spaces continues to receive increased attention in both popular media and in academic scholarship. However, while attention is growing, little is known about the attitudes the general public holds toward transgender sport participation. This is particularly true when it comes to attitudes participants hold toward transgender persons and their participation in recreational sport programming. As such, this study quantitatively explores the attitudes of intramural and club sport participants across the United States toward transgender persons and transgender participation in recreational sport programming. Specifically, results emphasize (a) the general attitudes of recreational sport participants toward transgender persons, (b) the attitudes of recreational sport participants toward the participation of transgender persons in recreational sport programs, (c) differences in attitudes by gender, and (d) differences in attitudes by program area (intramural vs club sport). Discussion of these differences and practical implications for recreational sports are considered.

The Scope of Risk Management Policies and Practices Within Collegiate Recreational Sports: Reinvigorating the Conversation

Risk management is an essential component of effective campus recreational sport programming. However, research on risk management policies, procedures, and practices within recreational sports is both limited and outdated. As such, this study provides an overview of current risk management policies, procedures, and practices across North American collegiate recreational sports departments. Specifically, the results emphasize current training practices for both part-time and full-time staff, practices in establishing and updating emergency action plans, and contents covered in emergency action plans. The results suggest that while the vast majority of recreational sport programs have established risk management procedures and engage in risk management training, they diverge in best practices related to emergency action plans and in terms of contents covered in such plans. Applications of these results for practitioners and institutions are emphasized, including discussions around best practices in risk management.

Attitudes of campus recreational sport employees toward LGBTQ+ participants: does targeting training make an impact?

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of an LGBTQ+ diversity training on the attitudes of employees within a campus recreational sports setting. Diversity trainings are a common component of inclusive management, but little empirical research examining their efficacy exists. Specifically, a training program consisting of one in-person training session and four monthly inclusion guides detailing the promotion of LGBTQ+ participant inclusion was implemented and evaluated. A retrospective pretest-posttest design measured attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ population for both individuals who underwent the training and a control group of employees who did not participate in the training. Results indicate that there were significant differences in the pre- and post-training aggregated attitudinal sub-scale mean scores reported by campus recreational sports employees after participating in the training and no such differences were reported in the control group. Guided by previous research and pro-diversity theory, this study provides management implications for recreational sporting spaces.

The role of past campus recreational sports participation in predicting students’ stress and competence during the COVID-19 pandemic

This pilot study predicted the association of pre-lockdown campus recreational sports (CRS) participation with post-secondary students’ stressors and perceived competence during the campus lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students with CRS membership at a Canadian university completed online questionnaires before and during the campus lockdown. Factor analysis showed that campus lockdowns added new stressors such as academic uncertainty, self-support struggles, and e-learning challenges to students’ academic life. Regression analysis also indicated that students who participated more frequently in recreational activities before the pandemic, experienced lower levels of pandemic-related stressors and reported higher levels of perceived competence to handle challenges and master their school workload during the lockdown. Results suggest that the impact of CRS activities on reducing levels of stress contribute to wellbeing above and beyond physical health benefits. Greater CRS participation cultivates personal strengths toward gaining lifelong skills and expansion of self to effectively manage negative life challenges.

Campus Recreational Sports Participation and Academic Cheating: A Pilot Study

College student participation in extracurricular activities is recognized as a contributing factor to an increase in academic cheating behaviors. National Intramural and Recreational Sport Association (NIRSA)-sponsored sports emphasize that all participants demonstrate appropriate ethical behaviors (i.e., sportsmanship) throughout competition. This study explores the impact that participation in recreational sports programs in college has on the frequency of self-reported instances of academic cheating. Specifically, we assess whether participation in NIRSA-sponsored activities which focus on the development of ethical behaviors in sports (i.e., sportsmanship), translates into ethical behaviors in the classroom, as measured through self-reported instances of academic dishonesty. Results show that participation in NIRSA-sponsored programs is directly related to an increase in self-reported instances of academic cheating.

A study on the management of intercollegiate and campus recreational sports in Japan

A study on the management of intercollegiate and campus recreational sports in Japan

Campus recreational participation and COVID-19: impact on college student health and well-being.

Objective: Campus recreational sport activities impact college student health and well-being in a variety of domains. This multi-institutional study examined the participation of students in campus recreation during the pandemic and explored the relationship between student participation and their demographic markers, COVID-19 experience, and perceptions of risk, health and safety. Methods: Results from a survey of 1,815 American college students indicated the presence of statistical differences in sport participation based on Gender, Race, State, Personal COVID-19 Experience, Campus Safety Efforts, and Risk Perception Score within various areas of analysis. Results: The impact and meaning of these cross-sectional results are discussed with reference to the ongoing pandemic and student health. Recommendations are presented within the context of this vital programming area both during and beyond the current crisis. Conclusion: These results are especially important given the health benefits associated with participation in recreational sport as tools to mitigate against the unprecedented consequences of the pandemic.

Impact of an LGBTQ Campus Recreation Student Employee Training Initiative on Professional Competencies

Campus recreational sport programs strive to create an environment that is accessible to diverse participants, including LGBTQ population groups. While improvement has been made in promoting resources and workgroups related to diversity management practices, little empirical evidence exists as it relates to the efficacy of diversity trainings for recreational sport employees. This study analyzed the impact of a diversity training program geared toward the development of affirming recreational sport practices for LGBTQ populations and exploring the professional competencies related to LGBTQ inclusion that are practiced within in a collegiate recreational sport setting. Results indicated that the targeted training initiative was effective in statistically improving employee confidence as it relates to LGBTQ professional competencies ( p < .000), while nonattendance at the training showed no statistically significant differences in such competencies. This study serves as a starting point for investigating the impact of LGBTQ-specific diversity training programs on recreational sport staff members.

LGBTQ Training for Aquatic Employees: Impact on Attitudes and Professional Competencies

This study examined the impact of a LGBTQ diversity training on the attitudes and professional competencies of aquatic employees within a campus recreational sports setting. While diversity training is often discussed as a key component of inclusive aquatic programming, little empirical research examining the outcomes associated with such trainings exists. As such, members of the research team developed, implemented, and evaluated a four-month long training program consisting of one in-person training session and monthly inclusion handouts discussing issues related to the inclusion of LGBTQ participants. A comparative quantitative research design was used to measure employee’s attitudes towards the LGBTQ population and inclusive-recreational sports aquatic professional competencies for both individuals who underwent the training and a control group of employees who did not participate in the training. Results indicate initial support for this training initiative with those who attended the training scoring higher on average in both attitudinal and competency-based measures.

Recreational Sport Participant Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men: An Exploratory Study of Participation, Religion, Socioeconomic Status, and Sexual Identity

This exploratory study investigated attitudes toward gay men and lesbians among the general student population of a midsized university, paying special attention to differences in demographic measures and attitudes across campus recreational sport participants and nonparticipants. Specifically, the study sought to investigate differences in attitudes toward gay men and lesbians among the following groups: campus recreational sporting participants/nonparticipants, differing religious affiliations, socioeconomic status classifications, and participant self-identified sexual orientation. This study used a modified version of the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men scale administered in person to acquire attitudinal scores and demographics of respondents. Multivariate analysis of variance statistical testing procedures were used, revealing significant differences in attitudes of campus recreational sport participants based on religion, and sexual orientation. Overall, participants who identified as Evangelical Christian held more negative attitudes toward nonnormative sexualities than Roman Catholic or nonreligious participants, and participants who identified as heterosexual held more negative attitudes than gay or lesbian participants.

Understanding Brand Equity in Campus Recreational Sports: A Consumer-Based Perspective

The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of brand equity in campus recreational sports by applying a consumer-based brand equity perspective. The study examined the relationships among attitudes toward advertising, word-of-mouth, past experiences, consumer-based brand equity, and brand loyalty in campus recreational sports. The findings of the study provide support for previous research which posits that marketing mix elements and consumer experiences influence consumer-based brand equity (Berry, 2000; Keller, 1993; Ross, 2006; Williams & Pedersen, 2012; Williams, Rhenwrick, Wright, Choi, Kim, & Vickey, 2014; Yoo & Donthu, 2001). In addition, the findings allow managers to gauge which antecedents contribute to consumer-based brand equity and aid in their selection of appropriate marketing strategies. Furthermore, the finding that brand equity has a positive relationship with brand loyalty supports previous research (Williams, Pedersen, & Walsh, 2012) and may be used as leverage for campus recreational sports departments who are seeking internal and external funding.

Benefits of Campus Recreational Sports: A Rasch Calibration

The purpose of this study is to introduce Rasch analysis as a methodological advance in recreational sports research. Specifically, the Rasch technique is illustrated through its application to an empirical investigation of college students' perceived benefits from recreational sports participation. This study seeks to develop and calibrate sources of the Perceived Benefit Scale (PBS) for recreational sports participants at the college level using the Rasch model. Survey data from 940 students at a large public university in the southwestern United States were used in the study. The Rasch analysis results demonstrated that the 15 items were confirmed a unidimensional structure with any biased items, and the four-category response format functioned well. This research shows that the PBS is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in the campus recreational sport setting to evaluate the benefit to students and develop management strategies.

Exploring the Effect of Staff Achievement on Job Satisfaction in Hong Kong Residential Clubhouse

Housing is one of the hottest topics in Hong Kong, a city with high population density, 7.24 million residents in mid-2014, and less land. Therefore, a high concern of housing issue and housing development direction occurs in recent years. Residential clubhouse becomes a selling gimmick of the private housing in spite of the unit itself. There are several reasons making residential clubhouse becomes a popular item in the private housing sector. The selling price of each unit can be set higher if there is a clubhouse services in the private housing sector. A sound human resource supply is expected as there are several leisure and recreation management diploma or bachelor degree programmes offering in Hong Kong, which should be formed a positive relationship under an increasing demand in the industry. However, the fact is hiring staff or retaining staff in residential clubhouse are always difficult. Job satisfaction is one of the important indicators towards staff recruitment and retention. There may be tons of reasons affecting residential clubhouse staffs’ job satisfaction and it is necessary to find them out to rectify the situation. Many researchers had been discussed factors affecting job satisfaction in other fields, but not in the residential clubhouse industry. Most of the researchers agreed achievement, job content, salary, interpersonal relationship, firm size, fringe benefit are the affecting factors. In this paper, achievement including work empowerment, work autonomy, recognition and reward, opportunity of position promotion, sense of self-professional status, and personal future development will be examined and explained in details in affecting job satisfaction and intended turnover rate in Hong Kong residential clubhouse. National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) 2009 Campus Recreational Sports Professional Staff Survey was adopted with several amendments to ensure the questions are well fit to Hong Kong situation. Significant difference was found in result of the flexibility on work arrangement among gender, open communication among age group and opportunity of promotion among different educational level. Moderate correlation of most of the sub-factors under staff achievement was found, and the opportunity of rank promotion and fringe benefit perks had the higher correlation among the others. Hence, it is suggested improving physical reward, training and learning, and recognition practice can help enhancing job satisfaction. Research results could help the practitioners to understand the current situation as this topic has not been discussed in Hong Kong before and this research study is the pioneer in exploring the satisfaction issue by one of the big factors, staff achievement in the residential clubhouse field.

Benefits of Collegiate Recreational Sports Participation: Results from the 2013 NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium Study

This study reports the results from the 2013 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Assessment and Knowledge Consortium. Students ( N = 33,522) from 38 different colleges and universities across the United States completed the Recreation and Wellness Benchmark instrument. Using Astin's Theory of Student Involvement (1984), this study sought to determine if there were significant differences between different depth and breadth levels of participants' campus recreational sports involvement/participation on student retention, health and wellness, and student learning outcomes. Heavy Users placed significantly more importance on campus recreational sports facilities and programs when deciding to continue at their college/university, and felt they had increased or improved every health and wellness and student learning outcome from their participation in campus recreation significantly more when compared with Moderate, Light, and Non-Users. Findings from this nationwide study demonstrate the value of collegiate recreation to the college and university experience.

Perceived constraints of campus recreational sports programs: Development and validation of an instrument

The aim of the present study was to develop and validate an instrument to measure students’ perceived constraints in participating in recreational sports programs in Greek universities. There were 3041 male and female Greek university students who voluntarily participated in the study. Cross-validation procedures using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis resulted in 25 retained items from the initial item pool, which form the University Sport Constraints Questionnaire (USCQ). Findings also showed a second-order factor structure of students’ perceived constraints. In particular, the USCQ items seem to assess nine first-order constraints, which are manifestations of three second-order factors. The USCQ seems to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring students’ reasons for not participating in recreational sports programs. Key words: Constraints, leisure activities, instrument development, university sport, participation.

Predicting Student Satisfaction with an Emphasis on Campus Recreational Sports and Cultural Facilities in a Turkish University

The main purpose of this paper was to determine the predictors of student satisfaction focusing on campus recreational sports and cultural facilities. The present study utilized data from a written-questionnaire administered to one thousand adult undergraduate students. The dependent variable used in predicting student satisfaction was satisfaction levels of the respondents. Due to the ordinal nature of the dependent variable, an ordered logit model was performed to determine demographic and socio-economic determinants of campus sports and cultural facility satisfaction. Ordered logit estimation results revealed that younger aged, higher income, tuition loan holder, classical or folk music listener students studying in social sciences were less likely to have higher satisfaction than their counterparts. In addition, for many selected services, most of the students declared their dissatisfaction. Although there is an increasing number of studies conducted on student satisfaction in the existing literature, studies focusing on campus sports and cultural facility satisfaction are limited. This study is probably the first attempt to examine the predictors of campus sports and cultural facility satisfaction in northeastern Turkey using one of the categorical data estimation method.

Personal Correlates Impacting Job Satisfaction Among Campus Recreational Sport Employees

Personal Correlates Impacting Job Satisfaction Among Campus Recreational Sport Employees

Influence of Campus Recreation Employment on Student Learning

This study examined the influence of part-time employment at a campus recreational sports department on full-time college students' learning. The student employees indicated they attributed their experience working in a campus recreational sports department to their perceived gains in critical thinking, integrative learning, appreciation of diverse perspectives, collaboration skills, and communication skills. Students working at a campus recreational sports department were invited to complete an online survey, which was developed for this project. The questionnaire, containing rating scales and open-ended questions, captured the perceptions of change by the student employees regarding their learning. A concurrent triangulation mixed-method design was used to analyze the data. The quantitative data were analyzed using multiple regression for each of the learning outcomes and one-way ANOVA analyses were conducted to identify differences between the positions. The qualitative data were analyzed using open coding to identify themes. The data were triangulated with job recruitment materials. The student employees indicated they attributed their perceived gains in learning to their experience working in a campus recreational sports department. The multiple regression analysis resulted in two significant predictors, which included collaboration skills and communication skills. While the one-way ANOVA analyses was not able to be conducted between the positions held by the students, the results showed students attribute their experience working in a campus recreational sports department to their perceived learning in specific areas. These results demonstrate the need for more in-depth study of each of the learning outcomes to gain more thorough understanding of the impact of students who work in a campus recreation department.

Generational differences and job satisfaction in leisure services

Generational differences in the workplace have been studied in a wide variety of settings, yet not in recreation settings. Currently, there are three generations ensconced in the workplace (i.e. Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y), with the leading edge of Boomers on the cusp of retirement and a second wave of Generation Yers attempting to find jobs. This study investigated attitudes toward job satisfaction of different generational cohorts in campus recreational sports settings. The results showed attitude differences toward job satisfaction in three areas: (1) working conditions; (2) work and environment; and (3) resources and employee benefits. Overall, Baby Boomer subjects were more satisfied with their jobs than the two younger generations, and there were no statistically significant differences in overall job satisfaction between Generations X and Y. Management implications of the study results are discussed.

The Benefits and Satisfaction of Participating in Campus Recreational Sports Facilities and Programs among Male and Female African American Students: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this study was to assess the benefits and satisfaction of participating in campus recreational sports facilities and programs among male and female African American students. A convenience sample of students from classes in the Department of Health and Human Performance at a small southeastern private historically black college and university was used in the study. The instrument consisted of a modified version of the National Intramural-Recreational Sport Association's Quality and Importance of Recreational Services Survey. Independent samples t test and analysis of variance were used to test for differences between gender and the benefit of participation questions (α = .05). It was determined that 80% benefitted with communication skills, 79% benefitted with a sense of belonging/association, and 76% benefitted with leadership skills. In terms of gender, 79% of the males benefitted from self-confidence, 90% benefitted with a feeling of physical well being, 78% benefitted with a sense of accomplishment, and 81% benefitted with respect for others. Eighty-five percent were satisfied with their overall academic experience and 73% with satisfied with their overall experiences with other student services programs and activities. Males scored higher than females when it came to reporting the following benefits from participating in recreational activities: feeling of physical well-being, sports skills, fitness, physical strength, stress reduction, and balance/coordination. Although limitations to the study exist, the results provide further evidence that students report that participating in campus recreational sports has an impact on their benefits and their satisfaction with their academic experience and their experiences with students' services programs and other activities. This is a finding that can only serve to increase the practitioner's understanding of those who use such facilities and programs. More studies are needed to further examine the benefits of campus recreational facilities and programs on African American students.