Engagement - Age & Family
Physical Education: AQA GCSE, topic 7.1.3
Engagement Patterns - Age
Age is another factor that affects participation in sport. Currently, all school children have to participate in physical education.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Test yourself on Engagement - Age & Family
Which of the following are examples of some potential effects of age on participation in sport?
What might prevent older people from playing contact sports?
How does participation in sport change when students leave school?
Which of these is a type of financial support?
A school child's friends all play football. Does this usually make the child more or less likely to also take up football?