Factors that motivate females over the age of 18 to participate in football in Wales
Author
McGoona, Hannah
Date
2014Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The aim of this study was to explore the reasons which motivate females over the age of
18 to participate in football in Wales. According to The Sports Council for Wales Active
People Survey (2010) women aged 16-24 in Wales had a participation rate in sport of just
21.1%, in comparison to 49.9% of men the same age. It is suggested by numerous
authors that a high number of girls drop out of sport by the age of 16 (The Sports Council
for Wales, 2009; Youth Sport Trust, 2010; Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, 2012a;
Sport England, 2013). However, the rise in women’s football in Wales seems to be
breaking this assumption with a growth of around 4,000 registered players since 2000
(UEFA, 2013b). Despite this statistic, there has been very limited research looking into the
motivators for women’s football in Wales. Therefore, it is important to explore the reasons
which motivate females to continue their participation in football past the assumed dropout
age.
Six participants were identified to take part in this study. These participants were women
over the age of 18 who play football in Wales. A qualitative framework of semi-structured
interviews was used to explore the motivators to participation for this group.
The results identified four key themes that motivate women to participate in football. These
included: social factors, psychological factors, environmental factors and competitive
sports. Key motivators identified by all participants were the influence and social support
from friends and family and the relationship they had with their coach. Other motivators
such as confidence, self-esteem, the competitive nature of sport and the experience of
sport through their educational years seemed to be important factors in a female’s decision
to participate in football. A recommendation for future research would be to conduct a
similar study in other countries such as England and Scotland in order to compare and
analyse themes and motivating factors
Description
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS)
SPORT DEVELOPMENT
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