7.1.3

Engagement - Age & Family

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Engagement Patterns - Age

Age is another factor that affects participation in sport. Currently, all school children have to participate in physical education.

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Younger people

  • Usually, younger people are more involved in team sports.
  • A stereotypical belief is that older people are more involved in individual activities that are less physically strenuous, such as bowls.
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Potential physical limitations as we age

  • There might be physical limitations that make it hard for older people playing sports such as rugby and football.
  • Fitness levels generally decline as you grow older and your body can become less able to recover from impact injuries.
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Post-school drop-out

  • When students leave school, they often drop out of sport.
  • This is more common among females than males. There are many different reasons for this that vary for each person. Examples of some more common participation barriers include:
    • Not seeing many positive role models in the media.
    • Engaging in sport with men who play aggressively is not appealing.
    • A sense of feeling judged by others when playing sport.

Engagement Patterns - Family and Friends

An individual's family and friends can have a big influence (both positive and negative) on their level of participation in sport.

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The importance of support

  • If parents are more physically active, there is a higher likelihood of their children being so too. Family support (in the form of transport or money, for example) can be critical.
    • For example, the Cowdrey family have represented England on the cricket field for 3 generations.
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Parents as role models

  • Parents also act as role models (someone to look up to) for their children. A lack of family support can have a negative effect on participation in sport.

Engagement Patterns - Peers

Peer groups (friends) can influence how much an individual participates.

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Following the crowd

  • A lot of people like to follow the crowd. If all of your friends play football on a weekend, then there is a good chance that you will play football too.
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Discouragement

  • Following the crowd or stereotypical attitudes could also have the opposite effect and discourage you from a particular activity.
    • E.g. Boys sometimes will not do gymnastics because of the negative attitudes some of their friends may have towards the sport.

Jump to other topics

1Applied Anatomy & Physiology

2Movement Analysis

3Physical Training

4The Principles of Training

5Using Data

6Sports Psychology

7Socio-cultural Influences

8Health & Fitness

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