<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The study investigated student involvement in sports as part of co-curricular activities in the school and outside, and the effect of parental support upon their child’s participation in sport. The purpose of the study was to investigate in-depth the views of year 11 students from six Australian schools about their parents’ influence on their participation in sport. The schools agreed to allow their students to participate on a voluntary basis. The primary data were gathered from 111 students in the form of written personal statements in response to the researcher’s open-ended guideline questions, based on the humanistic sociological approach of studying respondents’ personal perspectives on a particular phenomenon. The 80% of respondents who claimed to play sport were involved in a total of 23 different sports, with soccer being the most frequently mentioned (29%). The 20% of respondents who did not play sport all attended schools where participation in sport was not compulsory. Parental support for sports participation was evident in 89% of their comments, but only 11% of parents played an active role. The negative family constraints identified by 15% of respondents referred to issues such as lack of parental interest in sport, concerns about safety, maintaining a balance between sport and other areas of life, and the cost involved</p></abstract>

The study investigated student involvement in sports as part of co-curricular activities in the school and outside, and the effect of parental support upon their child’s participation in sport. The purpose of the study was to investigate in-depth the views of year 11 students from six Australian schools about their parents’ influence on their participation in sport. The schools agreed to allow their students to participate on a voluntary basis. The primary data were gathered from 111 students in the form of written personal statements in response to the researcher’s open-ended guideline questions, based on the humanistic sociological approach of studying respondents’ personal perspectives on a particular phenomenon. The 80% of respondents who claimed to play sport were involved in a total of 23 different sports, with soccer being the most frequently mentioned (29%). The 20% of respondents who did not play sport all attended schools where participation in sport was not compulsory. Parental support for sports participation was evident in 89% of their comments, but only 11% of parents played an active role. The negative family constraints identified by 15% of respondents referred to issues such as lack of parental interest in sport, concerns about safety, maintaining a balance between sport and other areas of life, and the cost involved

Secondary School Students’ Participation in Sports and their Parents’ Level of Support: A Qualitative Study

Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The study investigated student involvement in sports as part of co-curricular activities in the school and outside, and the effect of parental support upon...

Secondary School Students’ Participation in Sports and their Parents’ Level of Support: A Qualitative Study

Published Online: Dec 19, 2017

Page range: 14 - 22

Received: Sep 17, 2017

Accepted: Oct 27, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pcssr-2017-0025

Keywords
sports, secondary school students, parental support

© 2017 Vegneskumar Maniam, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Secondary School Students’ Participation in Sports and their Parents’ Level of Support: A Qualitative Study

Published Online: Dec 19, 2017

Page range: 14 - 22

Received: Sep 17, 2017

Accepted: Oct 27, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pcssr-2017-0025

Keywordssports, secondary school students, parental support

© 2017 Vegneskumar Maniam, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
sports, secondary school students, parental support