Factors Affecting Participation
five factors which affect participation in sport!
Age
- As people get older the time spent taking part in sport becomes less and the nature of the sport changes.
- High energy activities such as rugby are generally associated with younger players while activities that rely on skill rather than physical fitness such as lawn bowls are associated with older people.
- As the body ages it becomes less flexible, strength is lost as are speed and stamina.
- Sprains and other minor injuries become more frequent and recovery time becomes longer
- There are activities where age does not affect participation such as swimming, walking and playing golf.
Gender
There are many reasons why participating in a sport differs to males and females such as;
- men have larger and heavier bones
- women tend to be more flexible due to lower muscle mass
- men have higher testosterone levels
- men have a higher oxygen carrying capacity then women
- women carry more body fat than men
Disability
Sport is an excellent way to make disabled people feel involved in life, good about themselves and able to achieve new skills. However, there are two barriers to participation which are opportunity and accessibility.
This means providing the following:
- Ramps for access
- Changing and toilet facilities
- Doors of an appropriate width
- Access to all facilities
- Adaptations to equipment for access
Physique
A persons size, shape and weight can affect which sports they take part in
There are 3 main somatotypes;
- Endomorph
- Mesomorph
- Ectomorph
Endomorph- Pear shape; sumo wrestler
Mesomorph- Muscular; weight lifter
Ectomorph-Tall&skinny; basketballer
Risk and Challenge
Challenge-a test of your ability
Risk-the possibility of suffering harm, loss or danger
Environment
Weather- if it is hot it will cause dehydration to the performer but if it is too cold the performer will lose interest to go and play the sport Pollution-air pollution can affect both training and competing because it is a serious health risk. if pollution levels are high then performing outside will not be possibleAltitude- this is the height above sea level. Training and performing at high altitude can be a real benefit Terrain- It affects the performance of the sport as for cyclist they need a flat ground to do training on Humidity - It is combined with heat which makes the condition difficult for the performers to keep the body cool enough and avoid dehydration
Activity levels and needs
Activity needs;Competitive activities require performers to be highly commited as they need to train and compete. this will mean you will need to train twice a week split into fitness training and skill. Recreational activities are not as demanding as they dont require any periods of special training or preparation Activity effects;High levels of participation are likely to bring benefits. Low levels of activity clearly have little or no positive effect