Young People's Involvement in Sport

Based on survey data derived from face-to-face interviews with 2,400 schoolchildren, 600 four-day diaries and focus groups with both elite performers, coaches and parents, the book offers a comprehensive overview of young people's involvement in sport and physical activity in the 1990s. Deliberately set in the context of the literature on sport involvement and participation motivation, and alongside wider policy concerns, individual contributors each have accessed the data in order to address a particular substantive topic. Given the almost complete absence of hard data currently available in this field, the book should appeal not only to a local audience but to a wider international readership including sport scientists, sports' administrators, coaches, teachers and policy makers, indeed anyone with an interest in the who, what, why and how of young people's involvement in sport.

John Kremner and Karen Trew are in the School of Psychology, the Queen's University of Belfast. Shaun Ogle is with the Sports Council for Northern Ireland.

List of Figures. List of tables. List of contributors. Preface. Introduction. Gender issues in sport participation. Individual differences and intrinsic motivations for sport participation. Predictors, patterns and policies for post-school participation. Age and sport participation. Sport and community background. Time for sport? Activity diaries of young people. Focus group interviews with elite young athletes, coaches and parents. Modelling participation motivation in sport. International perspectives in public policy and the development of sport for young people. Technical report. Appendix. Index.