A Study of Sports Consciousness of Residents in Taiwan

Introduction

Since January 1, 2001, Labor Standards Law (2000) has been taken effect officially in Taiwan. Under the law, there are two-day weekend and the labor hours are reduced to 84 hours for two weeks. As a result, the public is going to enjoy 144 days of vacation per year. The time for leisure and recreation has increased substantially. In addition, GNP in Taiwan reached $12,941 in US dollars (Executive Yuan, 2001). As shown in Table 1, Taiwanese residents have not only the wealth but also the time when the Physical Labor Datum Law took effect.

Table one

Table 1 GNP per resident in Taiwan US dollars

Moreover, Gross National Product has reached a total of $2,883 hundred million (Executive Yuan, 2002a) which rose in rank to the developed country. As far as for the employment structure, the publication of Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics, R. O. C. Taiwan Region Human Resources Statistic Outcome (Executive Yuan, 2002b), reported that service industry occupied 57.28% surpassing the total of industry of agriculture and fishery. A separate statistic, Report on the Survey of Family Income & Expenditure in Taiwan Area of the Republic China (Executive Yuan, 2000b) , pointed out that consumers expanded 13.51% of the income on entertainment, education, and culture service in 2000. All of the above has reflected the living qualities of Taiwanese residents.

In addition, based on a profile of Taiwanese public use of the time, an Investigation of Taiwan Region Social Development Tendency (Executive Yuan, 2000a) the average time to spend on physiology needs (sleep, dining, cleaning, dressing and makeup) was 10 hours and 54 minutes in April and May in 2000. It was 10 minutes higher than in 1994 and 21 minutes higher than 1987. On the other hand, restraint time, such as work, school, commute, housework and shopping, was seven hours and one minute. It was 35 and 27 minutes lower than in 1987 and 1994. However, Taiwanese had an average of 6 hours and five minutes in free time, which was 15 and 17 minutes higher than in 1987 and 1994. This has proved that Taiwanese residents began to pay more attention to promote a better living quality. Comparing to Japan, time for physiology needs was 22 minutes shorter whereas restrain and free time was 17 minutes and 4 minutes higher than Taiwan since Japanese residents has average of one hour less sleep and 22 minutes more in housework. In Australia and Canada, restraint time was 14 and 23 minutes more than in Taiwan; however, these two countries had an average of one hour of working time, but the housework and shopping was one hour 48 minutes and one hour and 25 minutes higher shown in Chart 1

Chart 1 An average living hour of residents of age 15 and above

Time: hour and minute

Physiology need Restrain time FreeTime
Sleep work Housework and shopping
Republic of China ( 2000 ) 10.54 8.42 7.01 4.09 1.47 6.05
Japan ( 1996 ) 10.32 7.44 7.18 4.10 2.09 6.09
Australia ( 1997 ) 10.58 8.36 7.15 2.53 3.35 5.47
Canada ( 1998 ) 10.24 8.06 7.24 3.18 3.12 6.12

Source: An Investigation of Taiwan Region Social Development Tendency, Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R. O. C (2000a). Taipei: Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R. O. C

The investigation also indicated 72.2% of Taiwanese residents of age 15 and higher reported participating in physical activities during leisure time which was a little lower than 74.5% in Japan. More, the participation rate for physical activity was 74.2% in male and 70.3% in female. Three common forms of physical activities practiced by 51.7% of Taiwanese residents were jogging, walking, and quick walking. 21.6% exercised everyday and 58.4% reported doing the above activities weekly. The next common physical activities were mountain climbing and hiking about 32.6%. Of which, only 4.4% reported participating daily and 26% weekly. Depending on age, regular exercise and age had an opposite trend in Taiwanese residents. 85.8% and 48.4% of Taiwanese residents age 65 and above reported jogging, walking, and quick walking as well as mountain climbing and hiking. However, the rate dropped to 50% to 20% for age of 50 and under. This has indicated the need to form a habit of regular and sustained physical exercise.

Furthermore, many research and studies related to exercise participation or recreation pointed out that there were only a small number of Taiwanese residents participating in regular exercise. For example, Executive Yuan Physical Education council published a study in May 1999 (Chen & Yan, 1999) indicated there were very few residents participated in regular physical activities even though there were over 90% of the people reported engaging in recreational activities. School education and public policy needed to improve and cultivate the public’s knowledge in utilizing time for physical activities especially Taiwanese society was generally work oriented.

Studies related in desire in physical activities, Liu and Wang (1999) believed residential area, gender, age, occupation, and education were related to types of physical activities, time, and location. The most desired physical activities were badminton, table tennis, bowling, jogging, and cycling whereas the most engaged activities were badminton, swimming, jogging, basketball, mountain climbing, billiards, bowling, quick walking, and folk dancing. Time for participating physical activities was before eight am and after six pm and locations were community park, riverside park, school stadium or sports ground, and at home.

Similar research and studies reflected that behavior, desire, and conscious of Taiwanese resident’s physical activities were limited to facilities and locations, which should be further researched by the department of physical education. Past research pointed out the relations among desire and conscious of physical activities, age, gender, economic status, and recreation skills needed to be studied. How to evaluate and understand the above relations so results can be applied practically is valuable to academic research as well as policy making in the government.

The purpose of the research is to investigate the preferences, routines, conscious and opinion of Taiwanese residents in physical activities related to government policy in developing physical education and recreation activities.

The scope of the research included 25 counties and cities in Taiwan (Jilong city, Taipei county, Taoyuan county, Yilan county, Hsinchu city, Hsinchu county, Taichung city, Taichung county, Mioli county, Zhanghua county, Nantou county, Yunlin county, Jiayi city, Jiayi county, Tainan city, Tainan county, Kaoxiong county, Pintung county, Penghu county, Taidong county, Hualien county, Taipei city, Kaoxiong city, Jinmen county, and Lianjiang county. Subjects are Taiwanese residents age 15 and above with physical capacity. The study also utilized computer-assisted telephone interviewing system to conduct interviews.

Literature Review

Physical Activity Consciousness

French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist, Rene Descartes, said “Cogito Ergo Sum – Thinking Accounts For Being”. Therefore, the meaning of consciousness speaks for itself.

Hobson (1994), a professor at Harvard Medical School, indicated consciousness is the brain becomes aware of certain information. The individual consciousness changes its focus or goes into different levels when the brain pays attention to or experiences different things at the time. There are six levels of consciousness: unconsciousness, subconsciousness, marginal consciousness, focal consciousness, unconsciousness, and pre-conscious (Bernstein, Clarke-Stewart, Roy, Srull & Wickens, 1994).

  • Unconsciousness is how individual not knowingly regards to things in the environments. For example, an individual is unaware of one’s own heartbeat or pulse.
  • Subconsciousness is an individual with experience of consciousness but indistinct of the content of the consciousness.
  • Marginal Consciousness: an individual has experience of consciousness, but don’t have enough clarity about its content.
  • Focal Consciousness is what an individual perceive explicit consciousness when one focuses on something without distraction.
  • Unconsciousness is the emotion, desire, fear or complicated experience underneath an individual’s conscious mind. Even though unconsciousness is controlled by the consciousness, an individual is not aware of it.
  • Pre-Conscious: unconsciousness is a point supported by scholars of psychoanalysis. However, they also believe that between consciousness and unconsciousness lays another level: pre-conscious. The major difference between pre-conscious and unconsciousness is that the overstock experience of the unconsciousness cannot be recall by an individual whereas experiences in pre-subconscious can. Through the process of psychoanalysis, an individual is able to recall an experience from unconsciousness to consciousness, which needs to pass through pre-conscious.

Whether a conscious state exists in an individual depend on three aspects: reaction, recognition, capabilities and character of moral integrity (Darley, Glucksberg & Kinchla, 1990). The nature of consciousness is in motion, a process and exists at present (Edelman, 1989). Consciousness allows unity in experiences (Dennett, 1991). In the capability of controlling consciousness, Jacoby, Lindsay and Toth (1992) pointed out the main function of consciousness process was to allow an individual’s ability to control an environment in order to reach a goal. When expected outside force disturbs behaviors of a preplanned goal, the capability of controlling consciousness was going to emerge noticeably.

For the time being, there is not a clear defined definition and boundary of sport consciousness. Therefore, the research synthesized the above literatures to provide an operative definition as the following:

“An individual regards to sports related activity to make use of mental phenomenon, such as senses, consciousness, reflection, and remembrance to detect one’s intrinsic and extrinsic conditions of body and mind in relation to interests, habits, values as well as opinions on development of physical activity policy.”

Classification of Physical Activities

To classify each everyday activity as sports, recreation, play, physical activity, or sports activity is not a simple task since the participant can decide or plan the mode of physical activity depending on people, affairs, time, and location. Bucher and Krotee (1998) classified the scope of physical activities from play, recreation, community activity, school physical education and sport, sport clubs, amateur and Olympic Sports, intercollegiate sport championships to the professional competition. The above physical activities have many differences among each other. Other classifications of physical activity or sports are open and close, individual and team, as well as professional and amateur. It can also be classified into three categories: recreation, prized and professional. Furthermore, some scholars classify physical activity in absolute sports or whether the activity requires equipment and facility. If to classify physical activity by its goal, it can be categorized into professional, educational and recreational. Moreover, it can be defined by the concepts: broad sense as in competing with another person or narrower sense as in self-striving. In addition, it can be limited to a race or competition to be totally distinguished from physical education or training.

Research Method
Research Structure

The purpose of the research is to understand Taiwanese residents preference, habit, value and view on government policy making regarding to physical activity based on gender, age, education, occupation, family monthly income and location. Therefore, the research focused on demographic statistics and aimed at analyzing among variables. The research structure is shown in Table 2.

Table two

Table 2 Research Structure

Research Process

The process of the research is to decide a research topic before finding out research motivation and research subjects. After deciding the research purpose and scope, literatures related to consciousness, physical activity and physical activity participation are gathered before drafting the research method. The Table 3 is the research process.

Table Three

 

Table 3 Research Process

Research Subjects

To conform to the research requirement and understand indeed the consciousness of the physical activities in Taiwanese people, the research subjects include Taiwanese residents of age 15 and above with physical capability in 25 different counties and cities. The sample size is the population of these 25 different counties and cities in 2001. However, the sample chosen in this research is limited to the sampling method, which could not reach the same accuracy of the random sampling. To minimize the error in the survey and increase the representativeness of the sample group, the samples chosen in the research reach 99% confidence level and 2% error. Based on the above condition, the formula is used to calculate the number of samples needed for this research, which are 4,161 samples. Therefore, the research planned at least 6,000 valid samples as the goal.

Sampling formula : Sampling Formula

Research Tool

The research gathers data through a questionnaire designed and developed by the researcher, the Investigation of the Consciousness of Taiwanese Residents Questionnaire. The questions in the questionnaire cover the subject’s interest, habit and value in participation of the physical activities, opinions on physical activities policy as well as background information.

Based on the research goal and its scope, preliminary questions were initiated. Later, the research team examined each question to make sure the wording was clear and comprehensible as well as whether the language used were able to be comprehend by subjects with various backgrounds. After revising, questions were organized into a first draft questionnaire to be reviewed by seven experts in the field from different universities and colleges in Taiwan to see if the questionnaire conformed to the goal of the research. Moreover, Physical Education Committee in Executive Yuan invited various experts and specialists as well as the research team to again modify and provide specific suggestions on September 16, 2002.

After the above revision, the research team tested the questionnaire using FJS-CATI system on September 24, 2002. The subjects were selected from 25 different counties and cities. There were 188 subjects with 94 males and 94 females and of these 188 subjects, 107 agreed to be retested after five days to ensure the validity of the questionnaire. From the pilot test and pre-samples, the questionnaire did not need further revision. In addition, comparing the first and the second interviews by the same 107 subjects, every question has an identical rate between 80.37% (86 subjects have parallel answers) and 100.00% (107 subjects have parallel answers). Therefore, the process of developing the questionnaire and drafting the questions include not only multiple revisions and examinations of sports experts and professionals as well as investigation by the government, which gathered experts from various backgrounds, but also pilot-testing to ensure the validity and effectiveness of the questionnaire to make certain it indeed matches the purpose of the research. As for the effectiveness of the contents, results from the first and second survey are consistent which also represented the validity of the questionnaire.

Results and Discussion

The purpose of the research is to investigate the preferences, routines, values and opinion of Taiwanese residents in physical activities related to government policy in developing physical education and recreation activities. Subjects are Taiwanese residents age 15 and above with physical capacity. The study also utilizes computer-assisted telephone interviewing system to conduct interviews. There are total of 6,000 subjects in the study; however, within one month, there were 11,688 subjects contacted. Of 11,688 subjects, 4,014 subjects refused the interview and 7,674 accepted the interview. The success rate is 65.66%.

The analysis of the background information of Taiwanese residents

In 7,674 subjects, the number of male and female subjects are 3,755 (48.93%) and 3,919 (51.07%). The age group of “36 – 45” has the most subjects which is 1,739 (22.66%), and next group is “23 -35” which is 1,668 (21.74%). As for the education background, “college and above” has the most subjects, 2,336 (30.44%) and the “high school” comes in second, 2,332 (30.39%). For the category of occupation, “unemployed” has the most subjects, 1,984 (25.85%) and “administrative staff” comes in second, 1,024 (13.34%). The family income of “40,001~50,000” has the most subjects, 1,228 (16.00%) and “50,001~60,000” comes in second, 1,106 (14, 41%). The last category is the location, which “Taichung city” has the most interviewed subjects, 1,230 (16.03%) and “Taipei city” is the second with 1,100 (14.33%).

Catogory Number Percentage Accumulative Number Accumulative Percentage
Gender Male 3,755 48.93% 3,755 50.00%
Female 3,919 51.07% 7,674 100.00%
Ages 15-18 Years Old 617 8.04% 617 8.04%
19-22 Years Old 744 9.70% 1,361 17.74%
23-35 Years Old 1,668 21.74% 3,029 39.47%
36-45 Years Old 1,739 22.66% 4,768 62.13%
46-55 Years Old 1,518 19.78% 6,286 81.91%
56-65 Years Old 921 12.00% 7,207 93.91%
66 and above 467 6.09% 7,674 100.00%
Education Illiterate 293 3.82% 293 3.82%
Elementary 1,075 14.01% 1,368 17.83%
Middle school 1,461 19.04% 2,829 36.86%
High school 2,332 30.39% 5,161 67.25%
College and university 2,336 30.44% 7,497 97.69%
Graduate degree 177 2.31% 7,674 100.00%
Occupation A 133 1.73% 133 1.73%
B 58 0.76% 191 2.49%
C 623 8.12% 814 10.61%
D 825 10.75% 1,639 21.36%
E 1,024 13.34% 2,663 34.70%
F 917 11.95% 3,580 46.65%
G 212 2.76% 3,792 49.41%
H 244 3.18% 4,036 52.59%
I 272 3.54% 4,308 56.14%
J 479 6.24% 4,787 62.38%
K 1,984 25.85% 6,771 88.23%
L 903 11.77% 7,674 100.00%

 

Category Number Percentage Accumulative number Accumulative percentage
Family Income 20,000 元以下 541 7.05% 541 7.05%
20,001~30,000 元 610 7.95% 1,151 15.00%
30,001~40,000 元 737 9.60% 1,888 24.60%
40,001~50,000 元 1,228 16.00% 3,116 40.60%
50,001~60,000 元 1,106 14.41% 4,222 55.02%
60,001~70,000 元 848 11.05% 5,070 66.07%
70,001~80,000 元 771 10.05% 5,841 76.11%
80,001~90,000 元 606 7.90% 6,447 84.01%
90,001~100,000 元 659 8.59% 7,106 92.60%
100,001 元以上 568 7.40% 7,674 100.00%
Location Taipei city 1,100 14.33% 1,100 14.33%
Kaoxiong city 563 7.34% 1,663 21.67%
Jilong city 146 1.90% 1,809 23.57%
Hsinchu county 113 1.47% 1,922 25.05%
Taichung city 344 4.48% 2,266 29.53%
Jiayi city 65 0.86% 2,331 30.38%
Tainan city 312 4.07% 2,643 34.44%
Taipei county 1,230 16.03% 3,873 50.47%
Yilan county 161 2.10% 4,034 52.57%
Taoyuan county 660 8.60% 4,694 61.17%
Hsinchu county 74 0.96% 4,768 62.13%
Mioli county 129 1.68% 4,897 63.81%
Taichung county 457 5.96% 5,354 69.77%
Zhanghua county 390 5.08% 5,744 74.85%
Nantou county 153 1.99% 5,897 76.84%
Yunlin county 234 3.05% 6,131 79.89%
Jiayi county 221 2.88% 6,352 82.77%
Tainan county 372 4.85% 6,724 87.62%
Kaoxiong county 396 5.16% 7,120 92.78%
Pintung county 337 4.39% 7,457 97.17%
Taidong county 88 1.15% 7,545 98.32%
Hualien county 61 0.79% 7,606 99.11%
Penghu county 19 0.25% 7,625 99.36%

Chart 2 Background Information

Annotation: A = Military personnel; B = administrative executives, business owners and managers; C = professionals; D = technician and professional assistant; E = administrative staff; F = service workers and sales; G = agriculture, forestry, fishery workers; H = skilled workers and related; I = mechanics and operators; J = non technical and physical labor; K = unemployed; L = students; M = others; N = non response.

The analysis of Taiwanese interests in physical activity

  • The research result showed there were 7,575 (98.71) subjects participated in physical activity in the past three months and 99 (1.29%) subjects did not.
  • In general, the most participated activities by 7,575 subjects in the past three months were walking (35.75%), jogging (29.21%), basketball (21.91%), hiking (12.82%), excursion (12.57%), and mountain climbing (12.36%).
  • Of the 7,575 subjects, the reasons for participating physical activities were “to create health and strength” (40.79%), “interest and mood switch” (22.96%), “for work or school” (21.82%).
  • On the other hand, 99 subjects reported the top three reasons for not participating physical activities: “too much work in school, housework, or kinds to exercise” (72.73%), “no particular reason” (38.38%), “no opportunity” (32.32%).
  • When asked whether to watch sports programs or competition, 67.68% of 7,674 subjects reported to watch sports programs or competition regularly whereas 32.31% did not.
  • The most enjoyed watched sports programs or competitions by 5,194 subjects were jogging (32.31%), baseball (26.67%), succor (22.66%), basketball (19.60%) and mountain climbing (15.09%).
  • 93.11% reported watching sport programs and competitions, 50.27% reported from television, 36.79% listen from the radio and 19.98% reported researching from the World Wide Web.
  • Last, when asked about the most anticipated physical activities in the past or at the presents, subjects reported walking (35.65%), jogging (29.71%), basketball (21.72%), mountain climbing (13.06%), and hiking (12.71%).

The analysis of physical activity tendency in Taiwanese residents

    • 4,347 out of 7,575 subjects reported having regular physical activity which was 57.39% and 3,228 out of 7,575 reported not having regular physical activity which was 42.61%.
    • When asked about the number of times in physical activity per week, 3,169 out of 7,575 subjects reported “once a week”, 22.77% of the 7,575 reported “twice a week” and 12.25% reported “three times a week.
    • 47.72 % of 7,575 subjects reported exercise one hour or less each time. 30.01% reported one to two hours of exercise each time. 1,108 subjects exercised two to three hours each session and 579 subjects exercised three hours and more each time.
    • When asked about the intensity of the physical activity, out of 7,575 subjects, 2,606 (34.40%) chose “moderate intensity”. 2,480 (32.74%) subjects reported “low intensity” and 1,570 (20.73%) subjects “moderate to high intensity”. 468 (6.18%) subjects reported “intense” and 451 (5.95%) subjects reported “mid-intense”.
    • 2,151 out of 7,575 subjects reported doing physical activity in the “early morning” and 26.83% of 7,575 reported “afternoon” as the time of the day for physical activity. Next, 1,668 subjects reported “morning” and 1,369 subjects reported “during the night”. “Noon time” had 355 subjects.
    • When asked about the partner, “alone or no partner” received 2,654 out of 7,575 subjects. Next was “a family member” with 1,881 subjects, “friends” was next with 1,402 subjects, “classmates” with 750 subjects, “colleague” had 412 subjects, “neighbors” had 343 subjects, and finally “no particular partners” was the last with 133 subjects.
    • The top three locations mentioned by the subjects for physical activities were “park”, “sports field or stadium in school” and “private facility” with 37.28%, 35.08%, and 26.14% of 7.575 subjects.
    • The percentage of subjects in each categories in the time for traveling to locations for physical activities were 63.74% for “10 minutes or less”, 23.52% for “11 to 30 minutes”, 8.17% for “31 to 60 minutes”, and 4.75% for “60 minutes and above”.
    • When asking about the fee related to participating physical activity, 87.27% of 7,575 subjects reported “no” and 12.73% reported “yes”.
    • The channels to receive information related to physical activity or exercise were “televisions” with 62.64%, “newspaper or magazines” 21.78%, “internet” with 8.58%, “radio” with 6.03% and “others” with 0.96%.
    • For the item of “what are some of the information to be obtained?”. 53.52% of 7,575 reported “national and international competitions”, 34.11% reported “exercise guidance or instructions”, 8.71% reported “physical education policy” and the last was “others” with 0.66%.

The analysis of values regarding to physical activity in Taiwanese residents

The first five values regarding to physical activity in 7,674 subjects were “health”, “team cohesion”, “stand by the rules”, “sports spirit” and “enjoyment”. The percentages were as the following: 39.25%, 13.79%, 13.55%, 12.97% and 12.05%.

The content analysis of opinions on government’s developments of physical activity policy

There are four open-ended questions in this category and 7.674 subjects. The questions focused on the opinions related to development of physical activity policy. The researcher summarized the reply of the first three questions “increase sports facility and fields”, “promote the concepts of exercise and health”, “open school sports facility and fields”, “increase professional sports consultants”, “offer free exercise instruction courses” and “offer sports competitions”. There were also answers that weighted less and categorized as “the others”. For the questions four, the content of the reply focused on “increase equipments of the sports field and facility”, “develop specific sports”, “hold international competition”, “future plan for the elite athletes”, “invite outstanding coaches”, and “practical physical education from childhood”. Other single answers were categorized as “the others”.

The analysis of these four questions is as the following.

  • To promote physical activity for the whole people, what kind of services do you think the government should enhance to increase your interest in participation?

After analyzing the content of the answers, the research discovered that to increase the interest in participation of physical activity, the government needed to “increase sports facility and fields”. There were 2,290 similar replies. Also 1,749 subjects believed that “ promote the concepts of exercise and health” was the key to increase interests in participating physical activity. Moreover, 1,611 subjects thought that government needed to “open school facility and fields” to increase interests in physical activity. 807 subjects mentioned that “increase professional exercise consultants”, 609 subjects believed “offer free courses on exercise guidance” and 551 subjects considered that government needed to “offer more sports competitions” to increase people’s interests in physical activity.

In the end, there were 57 subjects mentioned “not clear about government’s policy”, “never thought about it”, “no time for such matters”, “strengthen economy”, “more promotion”, “no interests to understand government policy”, “financial support”, “no opinion”, “more community activities”, “no need to develop policy”, “not important”, “stable life”, “traffic course needs to be clear”, “more teams”, “more trees”, “no ideas”, “plan more one-way street” and etc. All of the above answers were categorized into “the others” and it was 0.74% of 7,674 subjects.

  • What are some of the services need to be provided by the government to increase your frequency of participating physical activity?

After content analysis, the research discovered that on the issue of promoting physical activity for the whole people, “increase exercise facility and field” was the key to increase the frequency of participation. Answers similar to or related to “increase exercise facility and field” received 30.04% of 7,674 subjects. Also, 1,731 subjects believed that the key was in “promote the concepts of exercise and health” and 1,573 subjects mentioned, “open school sports facility and fields”. Moreover, 786 subjects and 613 subjects mentioned, “increase professional exercise consultant” and “more sports competitions”. 603 subjects believed “free courses on exercise instructions” as the keys to promoting frequency of exercise participation.

Last, 63 other replies in this questions were categorized into “the others” with 0.82%: “not clear about government policy”, “no opinion”, “strengthen economy”, “no time to think about this matter”, “more promotion”, “no interests in understanding government policy”, “financial support”, “no need to development this kind of policy”, “never thought about it”, “depends on individual interest”, “plant more trees”, “plan more one-way street”, “employment for all”, “no need for exercise because it is not important”, “don’t understand the question”, “no interests at the present time”, “need a partner”, “not important”, “have not thought about it”, “increase welfare so people will have time”, and etc.

  • What are some of the service need to be done for you to form a regular habit of doing physical activity?

There were 2,351 subjects (30.64%) voiced opinions similar to “increase sports facilities and equipments”. Moreover, 1,753 subjects believed that the government needed to “promote the concept of health and physical activity” for the public to form a regular habit of doing physical activity. “Open school sports facility and fields” received 20.39% in this question. 745 subjects (9.71%) mentioned that “increase professional exercise consultants” was the key to help the public form regular exercise habit. In addition, 528 subjects believed the government needed to “hold more sports competitions”.

Finally, replies such as “not clear about government policy”, “no time for such a question”, “strengthen economy”, “no opinion”, “improve community center”, “enhance promotion”, “training of sports talents”, “no interest in understanding government policy”, “no need to develop policy”, “no interest at present”, “not important”, “Exercise when one feels like it”, “need a partner”, “transform one’s life style”, “depends on the situation”, “initiate physical activity for all”, “depends on one’s desire” and etc are classified into “the others”, which covers 1.04%.

  • What do you think it needs to be done the most to improve the standard of physical education and sports?

To improve the standard of physical education and sports, 2,351 subjects (30.64%) mentioned “future plan for the elite athletes”. Also, 1,684 subjects believed the governments should “increase equipments of the sports field and facility” and 1,598 subjects would like to see “practical physical education from childhood”. Moreover, “develop specific sports” and “hold international competition as well as “invite outstanding coaches” received 9.59%, 8.50%, and 7.74% in this question.

Last, 59 subjects provided replies such as “not clear about the government policy”, “no opinion’, “never thought about it”, “haven’t paid too much attention to it”, “more encouragement to the athletes”, “financial aid from the government”, “value athletes”, “increase the public’s interests”, “change government policy” and etc. The above replies are classified into “the others” which received 0.77% in this question.

Reasons for refusing the interview

There were 4,014 subjects refused the interview in this research. The reasons provided were as the following: “no time” with 78.77%, “not in the mood to do the interview” with 6.43%, “don’t understand the meaning of the questions” with 5.78%, “questions are too long and complicated” with 4.91%, “not interested in this research” with 2.67% and “questions involved personal information with 1.44%.

Discussion

This study interviewed 11.688 subjects, and 4,014 out of 11,688 subjects refused to be interviewed whereas 7,674 subjects accepted it. The success rate is 65.66%. According to Babbie (1998), when adopting questionnaire interview as a tool for collecting data, the success rate has to reach 50% to be applicable. When the success rate reaches 60%, it is considered positive. When the success rate reached above 70%, it is considered very positive. The success rate in this research is between “positive” and “very positive”. Therefore, it is suitable for further data analysis.

The result of the study indicated 90% of the subjects participated in the physical activity in the past three months. This result is similar to and even higher than the researched by Chen and Yang (1999), which Excutive Yuan, PE Committee authorized the investigation. In general, the top six most participated physical activities are: walking, jogging, basketball, hiking, excursion and mountain climbing. Many researchers in Taiwan (Chen and Yang, 1999; Excutive Yuan, 2000a; Executive Yuan, PE Committee, 2000) reached similar outcome. At the same time, Australian researchers Darcy and Veal (1996), American researchers Vries and Bruin (1996), Cordell, McDonald, Lewis, Miles, Martin and Bason (1996) all pointed out “walking” is the most common physical activity of the general public and other physical activities are focus on outdoor recreation.

Moreover, the main reason for physical activity is “to create strength and heath”, which resembles the research result of Clough, Shepherd and Maughan (1989). The reason for the resemblance is probably related to the illness and pressure from the civilization. People are trying to seek mental and physical health and to improve strength through physical activity. Furthermore, the main reason for no physical activities in the past three months is “too busy in school, housework, children bearing so there isn’t any time”. 72.73% indicated the above reason for not having physical activity, which demonstrated time is an influential factor in affecting the participation of physical activity.

There are about 70% of the subjects watched sports competition or related programs. The top five most watched competition and related programs are jogging, baseball, soccer, basketball and mountain climbing. The result of the research also pointed out Taiwanese public is deeply influenced by television, which is the most utilized when enjoying the sports competition and related programs. Jogging is the top watched program could be caused by that jogging is also the most participated activity. From January 2002 to September 2002, Taiwan hosted 22 various activities related to running including many international race and Iron Man Triathlon. Therefore, jogging is the most watched activity. In addition, the fever of 2002 World Cup in Korea and World Baseball Championship hosted in Taiwan resulted highly exposed baseball and soccer. All of the above reinforce the results of the research to a certain degree. Moreover, the top six most wanted to participate activity in the future are also related to the most participated activity. These activities are walking, jogging, basketball, mountain climbing, hiking, and excursion. This indicated that people are more interested in outdoor recreation activities. Also, this also revealed that people’s immobility in the physical activity and the unwillingness to change the engaged activity.

There are only about 60% of subjects have regular habit of doing physical activity. Comparing to the study prepared by Chen and Yang (1999), it has grow substantially. 40% out of the 60% exercised once a week and 50% of the subjects reported one hour or less for each session. The intensity is “moderate” to “low”. Also, the time for physical activity or exercise focuses on “early morning” and “afternoon”, and subjects indicated not having partners. The locations are centered on “park” or “school facility and field” where only require “10 minutes or less” in traveling. The research also revealed that as much as 90% of the subjects pay no regular fee for doing physical activity. All of the resulted are related to the most participated physical activity. In the meanwhile, 60% subjects received most of the physical activity related information from television.

In the analysis of values toward physical activity, subjects revealed the top five values are health, team cohesion, obeying rules, sports spirit, and recreation. This indicated the main concept in physical activity is established on the premise of “health”. Simultaneously, influenced by the engraving impressions of the sports, subjects also pointed out values such as, team cohesion, obeying rules, and sports spirits that are related to sports competitions.

Subjects believed that to increase people’s interest, frequency and participation in physical activity, the government needed to “increase sports field and facility”. Moreover, government needed to provide “future plan for elite athletes” in order to increase standards of physical education. Since the results reveal the demand for sports field and facility and to improve the standards of physical education, providing a foreseeable future is the first step.

Last, 4,014 subjects pronounced “no time” to reject the interview. The rejection rate is around 80%, which could be caused by the time for conducting phone interview from six to 9 in the evening. This period of time is usually for dinner or television. Therefore, in the future research, it is important to broaden the interview time frame.

References

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  5. Cordell, H. K., McDonald, B. L., Lewis, B., Miles, M., Martin, J., & Bason, J. (1996). United States of America. In G. Cushman, A. J. Veal & J. Zuzanek (Eds.), World Leisure Participation: Free Time in the Global Village (pp. 17-34). Oxon, UK: CAB International.
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2015-03-24T11:49:02-05:00September 9th, 2005|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on A Study of Sports Consciousness of Residents in Taiwan

Race, Gender and Sport in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

This paper focuses on the issues of race and gender in sport in South Africa since Nelson Mandela became president of the government of national unity on 10 May 1994. It examines the legacy of apartheid on sport in South Africa when white male supremacy denied equal opportunities to Blacks, Coloureds, Indians and Women, by the use of segregationist policies and practices in sport. The ability to participate in sport in South Africa has been intrinsically linked to the political history of the country. An examination of the development of sport shows the way legislation was used by the Nationalist Party to create a policy based on discrimination in which black people were denied basic human rights on the basis of skin colour. There were huge racial imbalances in South African sport that were not due to specific sporting legislation, but to government policy, legislative acts and economic conditions. This paper examines how in spite of the post-apartheid policy of racial equality, race relations in South Africa today are such that individuals still have a differential opportunity to participate in sport. Black people continue to live life and participate in sport within a context of unequal race relations. Finally, this paper also examines issues of gender in South Africa in the post-apartheid era, as the development of sport in South Africa has been male dominated reflecting the present gendered nature of South African sport.

The paper is heavily dependent on material gathered during a three week trip to South Africa in December and January 1997/1998, and 10 days in February 2002. In Johannesburg, staff at the University of Witwatersrand were interviewed, and an accompanied visit to Soweto, a conglomeration of townships to the south-west of Johannesburg, took place; the guide provided valuable insights into the life of its inhabitants, and was able to show me the impoverished sports facilities in the communities and schools. I was also able to observe the sports facilities and interview staff at Parktown Boys High School, an elite and exclusive fee paying school in Johannesburg.

Further travel to Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town enabled me to meet with sports administrators and athletes. The squalid living conditions in Guguletu, a massive township outside Cape Town were observed. Living there is a fight for survival. Children who have access to a ball play soccer on the waste ground beside the main road. Health and housing are a greater priority than sport development that is only appropriate to those who are not living in poverty. Interviews with academics, sports administrators, and coaches at the University of the Western Cape, and teachers from schools in the townships were also conducted. At the University of Stellenbosch, the Afrikaner rugby stronghold that has been so important in the history of South African and Afrikaner rugby, academics and coaches were interviewed. Here it was possible to contrast the relative affluence of the white, middle-class South Africans, with the poverty of those living in the townships.

This paper is also based on material collected from a number of official reports, newspapers and magazines, films, videos, and material from the Internet. Before travelling to South Africa a number of people involved with sport in South Africa had been contacted. Interviews were conducted with a sports administrator from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, who was also an official with the South African team that participated at the World University Games in 1997. E-mail correspondence was exchanged with South African academics from the University of the Western Cape, one of whom was also involved in many gender sports initiatives in South Africa, and with a member of the ministry of sport. Other semi-structured interviews were held with people on the basis of their involvement with sport, or their knowledge of sport in South Africa.

The Development of Sport in the Post-Apartheid Era

The 1995 Rugby World Cup Final between South Africa and New Zealand was a celebration of the lifting of apartheid. It signalled the emergence of a re-united nation. The massive media attention given to the competition gave South Africa the unique opportunity to show the world that for the duration of the game the nation was united. Francois Piennar, the South African captain 1, insisted that the team learn the words to the new national anthem, “Nkosi Sikeleli Afrika” (God Bless Africa), the Zulu theme song which has long been sung by workers to alleviate stress and boredom while working (Booth, 1998; Miller, 1995; Nauright, 1997). Significantly, President Nelson Mandela decided to wear a Springbok rugby shirt and baseball cap at the pre-game ceremony. Hargreaves (1997) felt that Nelson Mandela brilliantly used the Springbok emblem and transformed it from a symbol of white superiority to one of national unity. This was an unprecedented act by the South African president that drew great acclaim from the predominantly white crowd.

The World Cup Final symbolised the emergence of a new era in South African sport; it was a symbol of a nation united through sport; a single community in which collective interest transcended social differences. The Rugby Union World Cup, and other successes in international sport, have given the impression to the outside world that the transformation of sport in post-apartheid South Africa has been one that has encountered few problems. However, as apartheid policies had been entrenched for many years, its abolition did not just signify the replacement of one system with another. Morris and Hindson (1992) summarise the situation as one where “old elements, ideologies and strategies remain, and social forces committed to the previous order still operate, consciously and unconsciously alongside and clashing with new elements” (p. 52).

The post-apartheid era began while South Africa was suffering an economic recession, so much so that the black population was arguably worse off than during the apartheid period. Inflation was high, over 7 million people were unemployed, and 10 million people lived in shanty towns; 42% of deaths resulted from living in poverty (Tyamzashe, 1993). There was uncontrolled rural-urban migration. South Africa’s economy was dependent on cheap black labour. Indeed, the South African Congress of Trade Unions claimed that apartheid and racial discrimination was based on the quest for profit (Jarvie, 1985). In 1996, the average annual income for Whites was 34,400 South African rands compared to 3,600 for Blacks (Editor, 1996). Almost half of the black population of South Africa lived below the subsistence level. In these conditions all people were vulnerable, but African women, and children were most at risk. For this group, sport was an irrelevance as the end of apartheid had worsened their plight (Hargreaves, 1997).

Most of South Africa’s wealth was controlled by the white population. In short, there were two South Africa’s, one White and rich, one Black and poor. Shifting the economic balance in favour of the black population was therefore an essential part of nation-building in the post-apartheid era. Access to sport in South Africa was determined in part by economic conditions, and it was difficult for the majority of black people especially women to gain access to good sports facilities, most of which were in white areas. The legacy of apartheid had deprived townships of a sports infrastructure, and they remained under-resourced in terms of sports facilities (Hendricks, 1996). This lack of facilities was confirmed by a female teacher from a coloured township in Cape Town who described her school sports facilities as almost minimal. She said,

we had a tarmac area on which we played netball and there was some form of cricket pitch the guys played on; that’s about it except for the patch of grass…the maintenance costs for other sports were too costly and we could not afford that. As for apparatus, we would never have sufficient balls to practice skills.

Clearly the legacy of apartheid adversely affected the ability of certain groups to participate in sport, and until there were changes in the political, social and economic conditions, sport could not develop dramatically, especially for the black population. Hence, there was criticism of money being spent on supporting athletes at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, and sponsoring the bid to host the 2004 Olympic Games (Hargreaves, 1997). Although, ironically, money was spent on improving sports facilities prior to the 2004 Olympic bid, some of which were situated in townships. Hence, the ability to participate in sport has increased in some of these deprived areas.

The transformation of sport in the post-apartheid era cannot be separated from the broader social, economic and political framework. This framework still prioritises Whites and their participation in sport. In this situation, black women have emerged as the most deprived social group (Hargreaves, 1997). The ANC did plan to achieve greater gender equality and encourage women’s empowerment and racial equality. The new Constitution made provision for a Gender Commission, and the ANC committed itself to a “Women’s Charter of Rights and Effective Equality between the Sexes” (Hargreaves, 1997, p. 202). The Charter displayed the anti-racist and anti-sexist philosophy of the new government, and it has been applied to political, social and cultural life, including sport. It is claimed by the government that the provision of sport for disadvantaged communities is a priority, and girls have been targeted as a group in need of special attention. But the development of comprehensive equality between gender and races has been slow, mainly as the allocation of resources remains uneven. By addressing gender inequality, poverty and violence against women, the ANC attempted to make it easier for women to take advantage of the opportunities provided in sport. However, just because all sections of the communities are equal according to the law, it does not follow that there will be equality of opportunity. This was re-iterated by a former member of the Women and Sport South Africa (WASSA) who said,

sport is still seen to be the domain of men. This is still the case irrespective of what the constitution says in relation to equal rights, the men still decide if women can participate in sport or not, and African married women, essentially when she is married needs to be covered. Therefore, you are hardly going to find a Muslim girl swimming in the Olympics unless the family have given her space to do that so the custom overrides the constitution, so we have not made enough sustainable progress since 1994.

According to Hargreaves (1997, p. 198) “there are massive gender inequalities in the sporting structures of the country, and a strong association between sport and masculinity”, and this is because few resources are available for female sports due to the issue of gender being considered less important than race and ethnicity.

Roberts (1991) maintains that there was no strategy for sport in South Africa prior to 1990. Many stadiums and arenas had been constructed, but were mainly located in traditional white areas. During the apartheid years, sport was mainly the domain of the white minority and the rest of the population had been deprived of access to suitable sports facilities (Archer & Boullion, 1982). South African sport reflected the power and privilege of the white population, and the inequalities that existed between males and females in all racial groups. Sport in the white communities was a symbol of white, male, Afrikaner, superiority, and in Indian and Coloured areas, there were fewer resources for sports, most of which were used by men. For Africans, facilities in the townships were impoverished and generally only catered for soccer, and in some cases netball. For many people, sport was an irrelevance. In schools there were limited resources for Indians, Coloureds, and Africans. Poverty, travel problems and patriarchal controls limited female participation in sport (Hargreaves, 1997). A female teacher confirmed the limited resources by saying,

you need transport to go regularly to practice, during the time your family require supper, you need a uniform, the kids have to get their homework done; women are economically dependent on their husbands, if he says no, you cannot participate. Look at our high incidence of rape in the townships and few have cars; violence on women is increasing, so we need to understand the way personal circumstances impact on our ability to participate in sport. Women do not always have the choice, they do not have the choice either because of culture, or because of gender stereotyping, public transport and violence against women. Interpreted that women are not interested is ridiculous, so until we realise the environmental circumstances that limit women’s ability to participate…we need to change this before it can happen. So we need to get more women involved; we need more space, creche’s; we need to help them to make space, and we need a safer environment.

So, although funds were available to encourage participation in African townships, there was little encouragement for girls’ sports. The United Kingdom/South Africa sports initiative, for example, focused on traditional male sports and more recent initiatives, such as the Proteas Mmuso Sport Education Programme and facility management, do little to equalise opportunities for girls (Coghlan, 1990).

The return of South Africa to the international sporting arena immediately posed questions for the national organisations regarding the selection of national teams. The vast majority of elite athletes were still white and male and this would continue; white males had a pre-eminence which militated against women’s participation. The National Sports Congress (NSC) argued that the token inclusion of an unqualified black athlete, male or female, in an international team would be an insulting gesture. Interestingly, Booth commented that the selection of Chester Williams, a black player, for the South African rugby team was a classic example of a token black player, who because of the opportunity provided, developed into an international player (Booth, 1995). It is interesting to note that Williams was the product of a “privileged” upbringing and was not brought up in a township (Stoflie, 1996). But selection is problematic at national and provincial level. For example, the selection process for annual men’s Super 12 rugby competition which is contested by four teams from each of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, highlights selection problems in both male and female sport in South Africa. The South African rugby authorities stipulated that the South African teams should include a minimum of two black players. The South African Rugby Union coaches complied with this rule by only selecting the bare minimum for the 2002 competition leading to allegations of racial prejudice. This action resulted in several talented players including two who had already represented the South African Springboks, not being selected (Editor, 2002). As one black South African sports official informed me,

black South African rugby players are not being given the chance for representative rugby and there is still racial prejudice in the rugby organisations; you are always hearing about why black players are not included in representative teams;the players are always too young, too inexperienced, or too light. What we are saying is that if there are two players of about equal ability, then select the black one.

Criticism of the system of merit selection was highlighted by the selection of the Table Tennis team for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when Cheryl Roberts, a non-white player, was chosen in preference to a white player, Surita Odendaal, who had regularly beaten Roberts. However, due to Roberts’ credentials as a coach to the under-privileged, it was thought that she would be an ideal role-model for young black players so she was selected (Miller, 1992). A member of the Ministry of Sport informed me,

the answer is simply that merit is the only criteria for the selection of national teams. The Minister has, however, urged national federations to ensure that their teams reflect the demographics of South African society to race. What this means, therefore, is that federations should make a concerted effort to ensure sufficient numbers of black players are developed to such an extent that they can be selected into national teams on merit. In some instances national federations have signed performance agreements with the Minister in which they have undertaken to reach specific representative targets within specific timeframes. (I don’t see this as quotas).

There were further problems for South Africa during this period. The international tours that have taken place since South Africa’s return to international sporting competition have arguably been representative only of White South Africa. Many apartheid symbols remained, most notably the “Springbok” emblem worn by sports people representing South Africa. Indeed, South African teams are frequently referred to as the “Springboks,” a name synonymous with Afrikaner nationalism. For the white population the “Springbok” emblem is an indication of cultural identity and signified their power during the apartheid years (Booth, 1998). In August 1992, South Africa played its first international rugby match in the post-apartheid era against New Zealand. For white South Africans the match was significant as it provided them with a stage to illustrate their animosity to the new government. The NSC had declared that the South African team were not to use the “Springbok” emblem, and that it was to be replaced by the “Protea” (the national flower of South Africa). The South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) defiantly refused to cooperate and wore the “Springbok” emblem on its shirt (Retief, 1996). Booth (1998, p. 210) has maintained that,

in South Africa the symbols of representative teams, especially rugby have continued to divide rather than nationalise blacks and whites. As part of its policy of reconciliation the ANC accepted the Springbok emblem in rugby. It was a bold move and one fraught with danger. For three-quarters of a century the Springbok signified Afrikaner nationalism, racial division, and white exclusiveness and superiority. Instead of abandoning traditional rugby supporters, the ANC has attempted to confer the emblem an alternate set of values, but in doing so the ANC has offended both the conservative whites and its black constituency. The decision to reprieve the Springbok is a classic illustration of the problems confronting states as they attempt to nationalise diverse peoples.

For some, the acceptance of the Springbok emblem in rugby by ANC leader Nelson Mandela was perceived as a sign of weakness, yet he and the ANC insisted that the emblem could serve as a representation of reconciliation (Du Preez, 1996). At the rugby match at Ellis Park, Johannesburg (itself an icon of white South Africa), thousands of apartheid flags were waved and the white national anthem “Die Stem” was played. It might be argued that the actions of the white crowd constituted a fight to reinforce its dominant social structure, a structure under threat. However, the existing white symbols had not been officially replaced, which publicly and officially vindicated the actions of the crowd. There is little doubt that many Whites felt that their power had been undermined, and were experiencing difficulties in coming to terms with a post-apartheid South Africa. This was a defiant, defeated gesture; Nauright (1996) felt that the Whites were creating a “security blanket” in an attempt to maintain their former lifestyles and cultural practices.

A New National Sports Policy

For sport in South Africa to make the successful transition into the post-apartheid era, there was a need to unify the sports structure and formulate a national sports policy (Craig & Rees, 1994). Over several years the NSC played a central role in this process. The NSC had played a prominent part in negotiations with various international bodies such as the IOC and the International Athletics Federation (IAAF), and provided a ‘gateway’ for South Africa to return to international competition. The NSC 2 emerged as the body to oversee the unification and development of sport in the new South Africa. Its immediate objectives included co-ordinating sports activities on behalf of, and in support of, the national federations, developing mass and elite sport and making sport accessible to all communities (Booth, 1998).

In November 1993, a national conference entitled the “Vision for Sport” conference was held and was to prove to be a milestone for the future of sport in South Africa. The conference was a gathering of national and regional representatives of the NSC, as well as officials from Great Britain and Australia. The conference initiated several plans that laid the foundations for mass participation and the development of elite sport. To increase participation, South Africa adopted a programme similar to the pyramid structure of sport implemented by Cuba. This structure designated four layers, “foundation”, “participation”, “performance” and “excellence”. At the core of the pyramid emerged a scheme called “Protea Sport”. “Protea Sport” was (and is) an integrated programme catering for young children at the base of the structure to national sports stars at the apex. The system also allows for the development and empowerment of sports administrators, coaches and technical officers through conferences, workshops and accreditation schemes (Nqwenya, 1993). The conference also proposed that a National Academy of Sport should be established based on the Australian model, so an officer from the Australian Sports Commission was seconded to assist with its development. The Academy would particularly aim to identify and develop athletes with elite potential. In order to cater for South Africa’s widely distributed population regional centres of excellence were also established, and it was also suggested that 40 per cent of the selected squads at the academies should be black athletes (NSC, 1993).

The “Vision for Sport” conference also provided impetus for the establishment of the Government Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) on 1st July 1994, an occasion that illustrated the government’s pledge that sport could play a prominent role in the process of nation building. The newly formed Department published the paper, “Getting the Nation to Play”, which detailed a five-year plan that would provide all communities with basic sport and recreation facilities. The plan incorporated the Protea Sports Programme and the Academy of Sport (Department of Sport and Recreation, 1995).

The Department was also an important avenue for funding and has financed the construction of multi-purpose sports facilities throughout the country. The funding policy of the Department has attempted to start to redress the inequalities created in the apartheid-era by developing “sport for all” schemes, and has initiated criteria to ensure financial assistance to those associations which require it the most. However, while the sports policies at national level have become unified, the unification at the provincial level, is still undeveloped (Skosana, 1996). Opportunities in townships to participate in sport need to be developed, and in order to redress the imbalances several regional DSR’s such as in the Western Cape have produced “Rainbow Papers” whose findings aim to tackle disparities in sport (Jones, 1998a). The foundations and the plans have been laid and now need to be implemented, although economic conditions will be a major factor in their success or failure. Certainly, the DSR and the regional departments envisage sport as an important element in the nation-building process, one which may simultaneously help to counter some of the problems associated with poor living standards such as crime and drugs (Katzenellenbogen, 1996).

Local government in particular needs to work with the sports federations to help make community sport a reality. According to the ANC sport should be a right, not a privilege, and subsequently the DSR has worked in conjunction with the Education Departments to ensure that more school children are active in sport or recreational activities (ANC, 1992). During apartheid, schools catering for the privileged, mainly white children, provided an excellent “nursery” for major sports such as rugby union and cricket, and the structures of privilege remain. As a lecturer involved in the professional preparation of teachers informed me, “a form of physical education and sport is alive and well at many of the former white and coloured schools”. However, in the vast majority of schools for black and coloured pupils there is a distinct lack of facilities, and physical education is not part of the curriculum (Fredericks, 1996).

In order to address this issue, the United Schools Sports Association of South Africa (USSASA) was founded in 1993 to install sport structures in schools without them, and to identify and nurture talented athletes. However, personal observation suggests that schools in townships are still being built without indoor sports facilities, and at best there might be a space for a football field and occasionally a netball court. As a lecturer informed me,

despite all these major changes in the status and character of physical education, very little has changed in the former black schools, although many organisations are offering physical activities in the townships. So a lot is happening and yet not much has changed regarding the status and presence of physical education in schools. It has very little to do with whether you are a boy or girl, it has everything to do with which school you are at. Those locked into the cycle of poverty will continue to attend schools closer to their homes, and for them little has changed, classes are still huge (between 60-80), and the physical education period will be sacrificed for Mathsor Science. The status and presence of physical education is also linked to whether the school chooses to employ someone for that position.

There is still inequality of opportunity in sports participation between Whites and non-Whites, and males and females in South Africa. Roberts (1995) cited in Hargreaves (2000, p. 200), for example, maintains that South African sport is “gender biased, male dominated and sexist”. She supports this assertion by saying that most leadership positions are held by men at national, regional and local levels. The Sports Minister is a man and the NSC is mainly controlled by men. The general absence of women in decision-making positions reflects deep-seated power imbalances between men and women in South African sport. As Burnett (2001, p. 7) notes,

women’s under-representation as athletes and decision makers in national teams and national Sports Federations is mirrored by their absence in sports development projects (the United Kingdom-South Africa Sports Initiative), and their marginalisation as presenters of sports development in schools (Protea Sports Programme) despite individuals perceptions of personal empowerment.

There was the potential to radicalise the gendered nature of sport, but it was not easy as funds from the NSC are limited, and co-ordinating a gender policy throughout the country was complex and difficult. Hargreaves (1997, p. 199) feels that the opportunity to radicalise gender relations and attitudes in South Africa has, in part, been lost, and that now, “Westernised gender relations of power are firmly established”. Further, the legacy of apartheid limits the opportunities for many Blacks to participate in sport, and in particular it deprives township women of sports infrastructures, so that they remain under-privileged and under-resourced. As Burnett (2001, p. 7) further notes,

legislation and policy cannot eradicate deeply rooted discriminatory practices and male hegemonic strongholds, yet the government and women’s groups can do much to politicise women’s sports and to transform sports culture and society to become proactive in placing women and physical culture (including sport and recreation) on the agenda for change.

The focus on gender in sport is a fairly recent occurrence. For example, the Women and Sports South Africa structures (WASSA) were only established in 1997; the National Advisory Council for Women and Sport was finalised in November 1997. These national sports structures for women have now been defined and the government has committed itself to support women’s equality with men in sport and recreation. The issue of under-representation of women in international sports events is also being addressed. In 1997, workshops were held in every province, culminating in the Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Steve Tshwete, launching the Women and Sport South Africa (WASSA) National Steering Council. This Council reports to the minister to ensure greater gender equity in sport, and recreation. A former member of WASSA informed me that it was comprised of volunteers who acted in an advisory capacity, initiated projects, co-ordinated projects and distributed information. However, she went on to say, “WASSA hardly functions now as many of the original members have ceased to continue and replacements have not been forthcoming”.

At the moment the reality is that women are under-represented in sport, and black women are the least involved at all levels of the sports system (Jones, 1998b). As I was informed,

no doubt more women are participating, no doubt more women are aware of their right to participate, no doubt more women are involved in organised sport, and more women are involved in decision making. Women have gained a lot, but they have also lost too much, and should have held on to what they have gained. We need two women on every committee, now there is usually just one, and one can be manipulated to adopt a male opinion. 

Conclusion

Apartheid policies divided the nation, and in relation to sport this resulted in the majority of the population being deprived of opportunities and access to facilities. The size of the task to eradicate these disparities was immense, and consequently it was inevitable that there would be problems. The NSC has attempted to confront the issues, and despite economic problems is attempting to promote equality of opportunity in sport. The NSC and its affiliates have held two “Vision for Sport” conferences which have attempted to address the issues and propose possible solutions for the future of South African sport. But more needs to be done. For example, important initiatives have been implemented at the Gender Equity Unit at the University of the Western Cape; a Women’s Studies Winter School has been organised, and a report entitled “Moving towards Gender Equity in Sport and Other Physical Activities” has been published (Jones, 1998b; Ravele, 1996).

Internal power problems between organisations still need to be resolved for South African sport to develop. For example, there have been differences of opinion between the major sporting bodies, such as NSC and the NOCSA, since their establishment. A major disagreement was caused by the “war of words” that ensued over which body should take control of the management of the 1998 Commonwealth Games team to Kuala Lumpur (Smit, 1994). Both bodies claimed the right, and the situation was only resolved with intervention from the Minister of Sport, who announced that a new independent Commonwealth Games Committee would be formed. Further, the Minister announced that a new single body to administer sport was to be established which would streamline the present system, thus allowing NOCSA to concentrate on elite participation and Olympic-related matters, and the NSC to administer sport at the grassroots level.

The question as to whether “sport for all” can be a reality is one that remains unanswered. There is little doubt that steps are being taken to redress the inequalities created by apartheid, but it is doubtful if the development of sport can be a major priority for the South African government at the present time. There may also be political consequences following Nelson Mandela’s retirement from office in 1999, which will affect the development of sport. Mandela has been a unifying figure during the transformation process and his influence has been immense. While it is not within the parameters of this paper to elaborate on the political implications of his retirement, it has been suggested that South Africa is in for a long period of single party domination (Welsh, 1996). With South Africa’s political future uncertain, it is perhaps premature to make predictions or assumptions regarding the development of sport.

We do know that facilities are improving; programmes have been set in motion, and the nation has made an impact on the international stage in many sports. Taking into account the years of isolation, it is easy to be pessimistic about whether “sport for all” can become a reality for the majority of South Africans when it is analysed within the broader socio-economic and political framework. But we do know that already there have been some remarkable achievements. Concerted efforts are constantly being made in an attempt to make sport accessible to the majority. Yet the reality is that it could be many years before this is achieved, and for a South African team to truly reflect its “rainbow nation”.

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2016-10-12T14:48:21-05:00September 8th, 2005|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Facilities, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology, Women and Sports|Comments Off on Race, Gender and Sport in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Sponsorship Management: A Status Report

ABSTRACT

Based on the experiences and knowledge of a sport marketing university professor and the CEO of a sport marketing firm, this paper provides a hands-on status report on sponsorship management. It provides a contemporary view of sponsorship theory and practice in an effort to provide readers with a view on sponsorship as it functions both in terms of its use by practitioners and its significance in management theory.

Introduction to Sponsorship

Sponsorship, a relatively recent promotional tactic is where a “corporation [or other investor] creates a link with an outside issue or event, hoping to influence the audience by the connection” (Rifon, Choi, Trimble & Li, 2004). This ‘link’ or ‘association’ with a specific property (known as the ‘sponsee’) is the key in differentiating sponsorship from other promotional strategies, as it enables the investor (known as the ‘sponsor’) to not only receive the related promotional benefits (TV/print exposure, branding opportunity, etc.) but to be associated, in the minds of consumers, with the sponsee. For example, Lachowetz & Irwin (2003), in their survey of 500 spectators at the 2000 FedEx St. Jude Classic golf tournament, found evidence suggesting that spectator response to the sponsor (FedEx) is influenced by their affinity for the cause which the tournament benefits (St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital).

In terms of industry size, global investment in sponsorship has progressed from approximately US$500 million in 1982 (Kuzma & Shanklin, 1994) to US$24.4 billion in 2002 (Kolah, 2003) to an estimated US$28 billion in 2004 (IEG, 2004). This torrid and recent growth is forecasted to continue into the future (Kolah, 2003). In terms of its contribution to promotional spending, sponsorship has increased in importance from 2.5% in 1987 to an estimated 5.8% in 2001 (IEG, 2000) suggesting that sponsorship has become an integral part of the promotional mix. A number of academic studies (i.e. Cunningham and Taylor, 1995; Meenaghan, 1991) support this

In a similar fashion to the American Marketing Association’s recent update of its widely-accepted definition of marketing to focus on relationships, sponsorship is viewed in current management thinking as a relationship. Akin to other promotional strategies, sponsorship also enables a sponsor to efficiently reach its target market (e.g. Rodgers, 2003), making sponsorship important to sponsors, sponsees and affiliated entities such as a benefiting charity, a sponsorship sales agent, an event manager or a facility provider. Its importance stems from a few major factors. First, a major challenge in developing advertising strategies involves navigating the increasingly cluttered advertising space that exists today (Arthur, 1998). Faced with the challenge of this clutter, it is no longer enough for many organizations to promote themselves through advertising alone and sponsorship may provide an efficient way by which to differentiate a sponsor from its competitors (Fahy et al., 2004; Amis, Slack & Berrett, 1999). Second, evidence of the attractiveness of sponsorship relative to other promotional tools is demonstrated by sponsors who have supported their initial sponsorship investment with additional funds to leverage that investment. Leveraging, used in this context, refers to strategies that the sponsor funds and implements to increase the effectiveness of the sponsorship. These techniques are varied and include such things as the title sponsor of a televised event developing commercials and paying for their diffusion leading up to, during, and following the event. Reebok, for example, recently increased its annual budget to leverage its sponsorship investments to US$12.6 million (Kolah, 2003), which means that the organization spends over $12 million annually to leverage its sponsorship investments.

Mandate

The objective of this paper is to position and support sponsorship as a promotional activity from the planning stages through to its activation. It will be shown to be distinct from other promotional strategies (e.g. advertising, public relations, and sales promotions) and to be distinct from philanthropy including capital campaigns (major gifts). Philanthropy refers here to any fund-raising effort that seeks donations (i.e. a gift of a contribution where the donor requires nothing in return). Further, the need for both sponsors and sponsees to incorporate sponsorship-specific initiatives and resources into their promotional budgets will be demonstrated. In order to accomplish this mandate, the authors will draw on their own experiences, knowledge and research.

It is the authors’ hope that this paper will demonstrate to the decision-makers in organizations (both sponsors and sponsees) that sponsorship is not a form of corporate donation but a two-way marketing relationship where cash or in-kind resources are exchanged for promotional value. For the sponsorship relationship to be successful, the sponsorship must be properly leveraged by the sponsor and serviced by the sponsee, with an accompanying leveraging program. By means of contrast, major gifts are not recognized as providing promotional value as evidenced in the reasons in the elements of attraction of gift giving (Martinis, 2005), inferring that they are not sponsorship.

The white paper is organized in four sub-sections. First, a brief description of sponsorship and its nuances is described, with particular emphasis on current sponsorship practice. Second, a brief review of current management theory will be presented to support sponsorship’s position in management practice. Included in this section will be a short review of the sponsorship industry. Third, supporting evidence from the authors’ professional experiences will be provided. Finally, a summary paragraph will present the authors’ concluding policy statement.

Sponsorship Practice

In contemporary business practice, corporations invest in sponsorship; they no longer have the excess marketing funds or open leeway to simply undertake goodwill gestures. This evolution and maturation of sponsorship into a key strategic element of the marketing mix has led to a high level of practitioner need for cost-effective, accurate and reliable sponsorship evaluation methodologies as the greatest challenge facing practitioners is clearly the demonstration of sponsorship effectiveness. In response to this need, researchers are working to fill that gap.

As corporations (sponsors) and their agencies spend more time analyzing and assessing the business performance of their sponsorship investments and related leveraging activities, the properties (sponsees) they work with must be prepared to respond by effectively servicing the sponsorship. This response is being demanded in terms of increased media value, stronger integration of the sponsor’s brands with the property, and via more highly leveraged activation programs. It has become clear that, in order to insure the long-term success of the overall sponsorship, the sponsee must properly service the current needs of the sponsor by ensuring that its internal sponsorship management resources are appropriately structured. Such structure needs to include units within the organization that specialize in sponsorship sales, sponsorship activation and sponsor servicing. If the sponsee is to continue to generate the resources (cash and/or in-kind products/services) and brand association that comes with successful long-term sponsorship relationships, all three of these units must be in place.

The demands placed on a property’s sponsorship sales department are driving them to become even more integrated with the other functions in the organization. This has become even more pronounced as sponsors move from simply buying an affiliation or media spots through a property and are now interested in creating brand activations. The concept of brand activation is defined as consumer connectivity, and therefore the sponsorship program needs to be integrated with the departments that most touch the consumer.

Global Sponsorship Values (Source: IEG, 2003)

Territory Predictions for sponsorship in 2003 (US$ billions) Percentage growth (over 2002)
North America $10.5 9.1%
Central and South America $2.2 4.8%
Europe $7.4 4.2%
Pacific Rim $4.7 9.3%
Other $1.4 7.6%

Of specific note within these stats is sponsorship’s contribution to global promotional spending, which has increased in importance from 2.5% in 1987 to an estimated 5.8% in 2001 (IEG, 2000). This suggests that sponsorship has become an integral part of the promotional mix and is supported by a number of studies (e.g. Meenaghan, 1991). In practice, sponsorship has clearly become an important revenue source for sponsees and a valuable promotional strategy to sponsors in many industries. The literature now positions sponsorship to be completely different that other promotional strategies given three main points of difference: (i) that sponsors are believed by consumers to be ‘part of the program’ [due to the association effect], (ii) that sponsorship and advertising function differently [i.e. the process by which the promotion is communicated], and (iii) that sponsorship is believed by consumers to benefit a broader audience.

Examples from Practice

The authors deal on a professional basis across Canada with a wide range of properties (sponsees) in terms of program type, scale, and mandate. These properties include:

  • National Capital Commission (NCC) – The NCC is a crown corporation of the Government of Canada founded to act as the steward of various lands and buildings owned by the Government of Canada in the National Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario). A variety of sporting events are held on NCC property.
  • Toronto Parks & Recreation (TPR) – TPR is the branch of the City of Toronto responsible for all the parks and recreation activities in Canada’s largest city. A variety of sporting events and activities take place on TPR property.
  • Tennis Canada (Montreal & Toronto) – Tennis Canada is the National Sport Organization responsible for the sport of tennis in Canada.
  • Halifax Dartmouth Canada Day Committee – This Committee is responsible for all Canada Day celebrations and activities, including several sporting events, that take place on Canada Day (July 1 st) in the Nova Scotia’s largest city.
  • Canadian Football League (CFL) – The CFL is Canada’s NFL. It is a professional football league with 9 teams who play a full season each fall leading to the awarding of the Grey Cup.
  • Telus Ski & Snowboard Festival (Whistler) – This Festival is an annual event that draws skiers and snowboarders to Whistler, BC for a variety of related events and activities.

Each of these properties work with many of the largest and most powerful sponsoring corporations in the country and all are seeing substantial growth in their sponsorship portfolios. At the same time, these properties are coming under increased pressure to provide ROI for their sponsors. This strongly supports the mandate of this article.

In our dealings with these organizations we are seeing three notable shifts in their approach to sponsorship management, where organizations involved in sponsorship are expressing the following.

  • They are emphasizing the selling of sponsorship inventory on a more consultative packaging approach. A consultative packaging approach here refers to the fact that the sponsorship exchange is becoming more sophisticated and both sponsors and sponsees are providing and demanding more than just cash/product or promotional value in the relationship. They are interested in brand, associations and long-term effects.
  • They are exhibiting significant advancements in their in-house sponsorship expertise and the professionalism and specific-skill-sets of the personnel in their sponsorship departments.
  • They are providing more opportunities to both their agents and their sponsees to integrate the sponsor’s activation with event programming and marketing (i.e. additional leveraging activities).

SUMMERY

Both management theory and the authors’ professional experiences point to the need for sponsee’s to be properly structured in order to deal with corporate sponsors who view their investment as a marketing relationship not a donation. Being structured as such, will allow the sponsee to fulfil the needs of their sponsor and work towards developing successful long-term relationships with sponsors that will provide the resources they need, as well as improve their brand via the association.

REFERENCES

  1. Amis, J., Slack, T. and Berrett, T. (1999). “Sport sponsorship as a distinctive competence”, European Journal of Marketing, 33(3/4), 250-272.
  2. Arthur, D., Scott, D., Woods, T., and Booker, R. (1998). “Sport Sponsorship Should… A Process Model for the Effective Implementation and Management of Sport Sponsorship Programs”, Sport Marketing Quarterly, 7(4), 49-60.
  3. Cunningham, W.H. and Taylor, S.F. (1995). “Event Marketing: State of the industry and research agenda”, Festival Management & Event Tourism, 2, 123-137.
  4. Fahy, J., Farrelly, F. and Quester, P. (2004). “Competitive advantage through sponsorship: A conceptual model and research propositions”, European Journal of Marketing, 38 (8), 1013-1030.
  5. Kolah, A. (2003). Maximizing the Value of Sponsorship. Sport Business Group Limited Publication.
  6. Kuzma, J. R. & Shanklin, W. L. (1994). Corporate sponsorship: An application for analysis. In Graham, P. J. (Ed.), Sport business, operational and theoretical aspects. Madison, Wisconsin: Brown and Benchmark.
  7. Lachowetz, Tony and Richard Irwin (2002), “FedEx and the St. Jude Classic: An Application of a Cause-Related Marketing Program (CRMP)”, Sport Marketing Quarterly, 11(2), 114-118.
  8. Martinis, Robert. “How Do I Pinpoint the Major Gift Key Element of Attraction?”, www.nonprofit.org; downloaded February 2005
  9. Meenaghan, T. (1991). “Sponsorship – Legitimising the medium”, European journal of marketing, 25(11), 5 – 10.
  10. Rifon, N.J., Choi, S.M., Trimble, C.S., and Li, H. (2004). “Congruence Effects in Sponsorship”, Journal of Advertising, 33(1), 29-42.
  11. Rodgers, Shelly (2003), “The Effects of Sponsor Relevance on Consumer Reactions to Internet Sponsorships,” Journal of Advertising, 32 (4), 66-76.
  12. 6 The American Marketing Association’s new definition is “marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders” (AMA, 2004).
  13. Only a sample of the authors’ knowledge base is presented. For further supporting case studies and empirical research, email mark.harrison@trojanone.com or noreilly@ryerson.ca.

2015-03-24T10:51:16-05:00September 7th, 2005|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Facilities, Sports Management|Comments Off on Sponsorship Management: A Status Report

Playing with the Percentages When Trailing by Two Touchdowns

Abstract

It is relatively common for football teams to find themselves down by two touchdowns late in the game. If they score a first touchdown then coaching folklore says that the team should go for the extra point at that time. In this paper I will show that this strategy, which appears to be universally used in both the NFL and the NCAA, is incorrect, and that going for the two-point conversion after the first touchdown is nearly always significantly better. I will also show that going for the extra point after the first touchdown is only correct if either the coaches believe that they have about a two thirds chance of winning in overtime (which seems rash after a tied game when the result of the coin toss is still obviously not known) or if they believe that their chances of making a two-point conversion are far below national averages.

Introduction

On September 10 th, 2005, the University of Michigan football team was trailing by 14 points when they scored a touchdown with 3:47 left in their game against Notre Dame. Their coach decided to kick an extra point to get within seven points. Even though this strategy is followed in the NCAA and the NFL almost without exception, it is, in general, incorrect. In this paper I will show that the correct strategy in this situation is to immediately attempt the two-point conversion.

When their team is down by 14 points late in the game, NCAA and NFL coaches must base their strategy on the assumption that they will score two touchdowns while holding their opponents scoreless. When they score the touchdowns they have three choices of strategy that they can use:

Go for two first: Under this strategy the team attempts a two-point conversion when they score the first touchdown. If it succeeds then they go for the extra point after the second touchdown in an attempt to win the game. If the first one fails, which happens on average about 57% of the time, then they attempt another two-point conversion after the second field goal in an attempt to go into overtime. Although this strategy is apparently never used in professional or college games, and isn’t intuitively very good, I will show that it is clearly the best approach to take, based on well known probabilities for extra point and two-point conversion success rates.

Go for one both times: The commonly used strategy is to attempt the extra point after both of the touchdowns, playing to go into overtime. If the first extra point misses, which happens on average about 6% of the time, then the backup plan is to go for the two-point conversion after the second touchdown. Although this strategy is almost uniformly used, I will show that it is very inferior to the “go for two first” strategy.

Go for one then two: Under this strategy the team attempts the extra point after the first touchdown and then a two-point conversion after the second. This strategy is sometimes used when the coaching staff believes that their team is unlikely to win in the overtime and so they should go for the win now. As an example of this (Mallory & Nehlan, 2004) discuss, without criticism, a game where Bowling Green used this strategy to beat Northwestern in 2001. However I will show that it can never be as good as the “go for two first” strategy, and so it should never be used.

A fourth possible strategy, “go for two both times,” makes no sense logically or mathematically, unless the team’s extra point special team is so terrible that its chance for success is less than the chance for making a two-point conversion, and so I will ignore it here.

In summary, I will show that the “go for two first” strategy is considerably better than the commonly used “go for one both times” strategy, and that the “go for one then two” strategy should never be used.

Assumptions

The NCAA and the NFL have similar statistics for the success rate of two-point conversions and extra points. In the NFL the figures are 43% for the two-point conversion and 94% for the extra point, while in the NCAA the figures are 43.5% and 93.8% (Mallory & Nehlan, 2004). I’ll use the 43% and 94% figures for most examples in this paper, and will also develop the general formulas to show when the “go for two first” strategy is best. I’ll assume initially that the two sides have equal chances of winning the overtime, and will then extend the analysis to consider the more general case of what to do if, for example, the coaching staff believes that they have a higher or lower chance of winning in the overtime.

Mathematical Justification for the “Go for Two First” Strategy

I’ll assume a minimal level of probability knowledge for the rest of this paper. In particular I will assume that if there are two independent events like attempting a two-point conversion after one touchdown and then an extra point after another touchdown then the probability of both succeeding is the product of their probabilities. E.g., if the two-point conversion has a 43% chance of succeeding, and the extra point has 94%, then these will be assigned probabilities of 0.43 and 0.94, respectively, and the probability of both succeeding is 0.43 × 0.94, which is 0.4042, which using percentages is 40.42%.

The Average Case

Initially I’ll just look at the average case where the percentages for the two-point conversion and the extra point are 43% and 94%, respectively, (and so the percentages for failing on the two-point conversion and missing the extra point are 57% and 6%, respectively), and where the teams are equally likely to win if the game goes into overtime. Then I’ll generalize the mathematics to other percentages.

Under the “go for two first” strategy the team will score three additional points (i.e. in addition to the twelve points for the two touchdowns) if they get the two-point conversion and the subsequent extra point, two additional points when either they miss the first two-point attempt and hit the second or when they make the two-point attempt but miss the extra point, or no additional points if they miss both two point attempts. One additional point cannot occur under this strategy. The probability of three additional points, which will win the game, is 0.43 × 0.94 (making the two-point and then the conversion), which is 0.4042. The probability of two additional points (making the two-point and missing the extra point or missing the first two-point but getting the second) is 0.43 × 0.06 + 0.57 × 0.43, which is 0.0258 + 0.2451, which is 0.2709, which will send the game into overtime. The probability of zero additional points, which will lead to a loss, comes from missing both two-point attempts, which is 0.57 X 0.57, which is 0.3249. So there is a 0.4042 chance of winning outright plus a 50% chance of winning the overtime, which adds half of .2709, for a total winning percentage of 0.540.

The “go for one both times” strategy requires hitting both extra points, which has a probability of 0.94 × 0.94, which is 0.8836, or missing the first one and then attempting the two-point conversion which has a probability of 0.06 × 0.43 for an additional 0.0258, and then assuming a 50% chance of winning the overtime gives this strategy a winning probability of half of 0.9094, for a winning percentage of 0.455.

The “go for one then two” strategy is the worst. It succeeds and wins the game when both succeed with probability 0.43 × 0.94, which is 0.4042, and ties and goes into overtime if the extra point is missed but the two-point conversion succeeds, which will add half of 0.06 × 0.43, for another 0.0129 and for a total winning probability of 0.417.

In summary, the chances of winning under the three strategies, assuming an even chance in an overtime, 43% for two-point conversions, and 94% for extra points (the NFL average statistics), and assuming that you get two touchdowns without the opponents scoring, are shown in the table below:

Strategy Percentage of winningin average case
Go for two first 54.0%
Go for one both times 45.5%
Go for one then two 41.7%

Clearly the proposed strategy, even though it is not commonly used, is by far the best strategy to take in this average case.

The General Case

Let’s assume that for your team you estimate that you have a probability x of making a two-point conversion, y of making an extra point, and in this game you believe that you have a probability of z of winning if the game goes into overtime. In the average case example above x = 0.43, y = 0.94, and z = 0.5. The probabilities now become

Strategy Probability of winning
Go for two first xy + x(1-y)z + (1-x)xz
Go for one both times yyz + (1-y)xz
Go for one then two yx + (1-y)xz

Interpreting these equations, the “go for two first” strategy wins if either the two-point conversion and subsequent extra point both succeed (probability xy), or the two-point conversion succeeds and the extra point fails but you win in overtime (x(1-y)z), or the first two-point conversion fails, the second one succeeds, and you win the overtime

((1-x)xz). The “go for one both times” strategy wins if either both extra points succeed and you win the overtime (yyz) or the first one misses but the backup two-point conversion succeeds, and again you win in overtime ((1-y)xz). Finally the “go for one then two” strategy wins if the extra point and the subsequent two-point conversion both succeed (yx) or the extra point fails and the subsequent two-point conversion succeeds and you win in overtime ((1-y)xz).

At this point we can completely reject any further consideration of the “go for one then two” strategy because the “go for two first” strategy always has (1-x)xz better probability and this quantity can’t be negative. (In most practical cases it will be about a 0.12 higher probability, or a 12% higher percentage.) The problem with the “go for one then two” strategy is that if the two-point conversion fails then the game is lost, while with the “go for two first” strategy if the two-point conversion fails then the team can attempt a second two-point conversion, going for the tie, after the second touchdown.

Assuming 50% Overtimes

In most games the probability of winning in overtime is dominated by the coin flip and luck, and so it is very close to 50% when evaluated in advance of that flip. Even if a fairer system were developed that took away the 60% advantage of the coin flip, like the pizza splitting system (Smith, n.d.), the success rate in overtime is likely to be very close to 50% for most teams over a reasonable number of overtimes. Given the assumption that z = 0.5, the probability table for the two reasonable strategies becomes:

Strategy Probability of winning
Go for two first xy + ½x(1-y) + ½(1-x)x
Go for one both times ½yy + ½(1-y)x

Given a particular value for y, your probability that you’ll make an extra point, we can compare these two formulas to determine how confident you need to be in your two-point conversion before you decide to use the “go for two first” strategy. As we’ll see, if you believe that you will make at least 38.2% of your two-point conversions (which is significantly below the national average) then you should always use the “go for two first” strategy, even if you know that you’ll never miss an extra point. As you reduce your confidence in your extra point special team, your required confidence in your two-point conversion team can drop even further and still mandate the use of the “go for two first” strategy. So, for example, if you have a poor kicking team and only expect to make 90% of your extra point kicks then you should use the “go for two first” strategy if you expect to make at least 32.8% of your two-point conversions.

To justify these numbers I just need to ensure that xy + ½x(1-y) + ½(1-x)x is greater than ½y 2 + ½(1-y)x, cancel out the common term, and solve the equation for x. This gives

xy + ½(1-x)x > ½y 2 which is –x 2 + x(2y+1) – y 2 > 0, which can be solved with the standard quadratic equation formula to get the equation that one should use the “go for two first” strategy whenever:

Image of math equation

This looks complicated, but it is easy to apply. E.g., if y = 1.0, and so you believe that your team will never miss an extra point, then substitution shows that if your team can make at least 38.2% of their two-point attempts then the “go for two first strategy” is best. Break points for different expected field goal percentages are shown below:

Extra point percentage Required two-point percentageto select “go for two first” when

50% chance in overtime

100% 38.2%
94% (NFL) 34.9%
93.8% (NCAA) 34.8%
90% 32.8%
80% 27.5%
70% 22.5%

So, for example, if your kicking team only succeeds 90% of the time with extra points, then if you estimate that you will make a two-point conversion at least one third of the time then you should adopt the “go for two first” strategy. A normal kicking team in either the NCAA or NFL should use the “go for two now” strategy if they can expect to make at least 35% of their two-point conversion attempts.

Assuming Other Overtime Percentages

While most teams will, when they are being honest with themselves, decide that their chances of winning if the game goes into overtime are close to 50%, there might be times when they are more or less confident than that. For example most analysts believe that a team with a much stronger field goal team has an advantage in overtime under either NFL or NCAA rules. In this section I’ll look at how this changes the odds. For any particular expectation of winning or losing in the overtime one can substitute the value in for z in the general equations and solve them using the quadratic equation as I did for the z = 0.5 situation, above. In general this gives the break point on whether or not to use the “go for two first” at

Math equation

I’ll rebuild the table that I had above for two situations; when the coaching staff aren’t very confident going into overtime, and estimate their chances at 45%, and when they are confident and estimate their chances at 55%.

Extra point percentage Required two-point percentageto select “go for two first” when

45% chance in overtime

100% 34.8%
94% (NFL) 31.9%
93.8% (NCAA) 31.8%
90% 30.0%
80% 25.4%
70% 20.9%
Extra point percentage Required two-point percentageto select “go for two first” when

55% chance in overtime

100% 41.6%
94% (NFL) 37.9%
93.8% (NCAA) 37.8%
90% 35.5%
80% 29.7%
70% 24.1%

These figures show that even if you are fairly confident that you will win in overtime (55% confident) then you should still use the “go for two first” strategy unless you think that your chances of making a two-point conversion are way below the 43% average, and that if you believe that your chances are not good in an overtime (45%) then you should use the “go for two first” strategy unless your two-point conversion team is really awful.

They also give rise to one final question: How confident do you need to be in your ability to win in overtime before you reject the “go for two first” strategy and use the “go for one both times” strategy? Some math will provide that information. We know that we should use the “go for one both times” strategy when:

Math Equation

This surprisingly simple condition says that you should only use the “go for one both times” strategy whenever Equation 1. Assuming the standard NFL values for x and y, 0.43 and 0.96, respectively, then this is Equation 2, which is 0.633 or 63.3%. So the traditional “go for one both times” strategy should only be used if you believe that your team is nearly twice as likely to win as the opponents in overtime, which seems a wildly optimistic assumption after tying in regular time.

Discussion

I have shown that under nearly all circumstances the “go for two first” strategy is significantly better than the “go for one both times” strategy when trailing by two touchdowns late in the game, and than also the “go for one then two” strategy should never be used.

The only times when the “go for one both times” strategy should be used is when either the coaches believe that they are nearly twice as likely to win as the opponents are (which seems overly optimistic after a tied game unless there are external factors like late injuries to some of the opponent’s important players) or when they believe that their team is far below average at making two-point conversions.

Since the correct strategy never appears to be used, an interesting question is why coaches have always got it so wrong. They have probably been led astray by the expected value of going for two point conversions vs. extra points. The expected value is the expected long term return from taking a particular action. In the case of a two-point conversion it is, for a typical team, (2 points)x0.43, which is 0.86 points each time that you try it. For an extra point it is (1 point)x0.94, which is 0.94 points. So for most of the game kicking extra points after touchdowns is slightly better than going for two-point conversions. When trailing at the end of the game the expected value of the points is no longer relevant, since all that matters is whether you are more or less likely to win. Looking at it differently, if the coaches use the “go for two first” strategy then, as we saw earlier, there is a 0.4042 of winning outright, a 0.3249 of losing outright, and the rest of the time (0.2709) you’ll go into overtime. So you are more likely to win than lose. Using the “go for one both times” strategy there is no chance of an outright win, a 0.9094 of going into overtime, and the rest of the time (0.0906) you will lose outright. So with this strategy you are more likely to lose than win. One reason expected values don’t help here is that if you lose outright with the “go for two first” strategy it will be by two points, but with the “go for one both times” strategy it will sometimes be by only one point, but a loss is a loss, so this isn’t relevant.

In this paper I haven’t discussed how to handle other situations like trailing by seven points (attempt the extra point) or by 21 points (go for two first). I also haven’t discussed high school football because two-point conversion attempt and extra point percentages vary so spectacularly across high school teams. However once high school coaches have some estimates for their team’s percentages in these two areas they can use the formulas in this paper to determine their best approach. It appears that for all practical cases the “go for two first” strategy will also be best for them.

References

  1. Mallory, W. & Nehlan, D. (eds.) (2004). Complete Guide to Special Teams, American Football Coaches Association, ISBN 0736052917.
  2. Smith, M. (n.d.) Splitting the Overtime Pizza, Football Outsiders Web Page, Retrieved September 19, 2005, from http://www.footballoutsiders.com/ramblings_print.php?p=87&cat=1.
2018-10-25T10:22:13-05:00September 6th, 2005|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Coaching, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on Playing with the Percentages When Trailing by Two Touchdowns

Investigating Demographic and Attitude Characteristics of Recreational Skiers: An Application of Behavioral Segmentation

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the most important constraints facing recreational skiers, and profile recreational skiers according to their levels of participation and demographic characteristics. The sample of the study consisted of two hundred and sixty eight (N=268) recreational skiers from a skiing resort in Greece. The results indicated that the most important constraints against participation in winter skiing were related to economic and lack of time problems. Participants were then categorised according to their level of participation (infrequent, moderate, and frequent participants). Comparisons in terms of demographic characteristics indicated that younger and single people participated more in skiing activities than older and married ones. Furthermore, males participated more than females. Comparisons in terms of the perception of constraints indicated several differences with the most striking on the item reading ‘skiing is not among my priorities’. The managerial implications of the results are discussed.

Introduction

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into groups of consumers who share similar characteristics. Segmentation is a widely used marketing strategy by marketers today. Four main bases for market segmentation have been suggested: demographic, geographic, psycho graphic and behavioural. Demographic segmentation involves the division of consumers into groups based on variables such as gender, age, family size, income, occupation and religion, while geographic segmentation includes variables such as nation, counties, states etc. Demographic and geographic segmentation are the most widely and easily most applied strategies by marketers and practitioners. Psychographic segmentation includes the division of consumers into groups based on social class, lifestyle, and personality characteristics, while in behavioural segmentation consumers are divided to form groups based on knowledge, attitudes, uses or responses to services. The value of benefit segmentation has been indicated by Hendricks (2004) who applied it in recreation participants. Involvement profiles have been used as a way of behavioural segmentation by Dimanche, Havitz & Howard (1993) in a tourism context, while Havitz, Dimanche & Bogle (1994) applied it in a fitness context. It is clear from all these studies that not all participants are the same with respect to their interests, attitudes and needs.

In the present study we used a combination of behavioural and psychographic segmentation in order to classify recreational skiers. We originally classified consumers into groups according to the frequency of doing ski (behavioural segmentation), and we then profiled each group by examining a) demographic characteristic and b) perceived constraints on skiing participation in terms of different frequency of skiing participation.

Theoretical Background

Leisure Constraints

Leisure constraint research has been a very popular topic in the leisure literature the last two decades. This is due to the theoretical developments made by key papers such as those written by Crawford & Godbey’s (1987) Crawford, Jackson & Godbey’s (1991) Jackson & Rucks (1993) and they great applicability of constraint research data (Alexandris & Carroll, 1999). A variety of studies have successfully indicated how leisure constraint data can help practitioners and policy -makers to more effectively design and promote sport and leisure services (Kay & Jackson, 1991).

Constraints have been defined as “factors that are assumed by researchers and perceived or experienced by individuals to limit the formation of leisure preferences and to inhibit or prohibit participation in leisure activities” (Jackson, 1991, p. 276). It is widely accepted today that constraints are classified into intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural. This categorization was introduced by Crawford and Godbey (1987) and adopted by the majority of researchers in this area. Intrapersonal are internal constraints related to individual psychological states and attributes. Examples of intrapersonal constraints include perceived skill levels, perceived fitness levels, perceived confidence, stress and anxiety. Interpersonal constraints are related to lack of social interaction and social isolation. Examples of interpersonal constraints include inability to find partners to participate with, social isolation, and social disapproval. Finally, structural constraints are external ones. They are related to unavailability or resources to participate in leisure activities. Examples of structural constraints include lack of money, problems related to facilities and services and accessibility issues.

Studies on leisure constraints have been conducted in a variety of leisure, recreation and sport setting, as well as different countries and populations. In the area of sport tourism, leisure constraints research is growing but it is still limited. Constraints have been investigated among nature-based tourists (Nyaupane, Morais & Graefe, 2004), skiers (Williams & Fidgeon, 2000), fans of soccer teams who travel to other countries (Kim & Chalip, 2004), tourists with physical disability problems (Daniels, Drogin-Rodgers & Wiggins, 2005) and destination tourists (Dellaert, Ettema & Lindh, 1998).

Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study were: a) to investigate the most important constraints facing recreational skiers; b) profile recreational skiers according to their levels of participation, demographic characteristics and perception of constraints.

Methodology

Participants and Procedures

Data were collected by means of a site survey, conducted in a skiing resort, which was located at the biggest ski centre in South Greece. Recreational skiers were approached and asked to fill the questionnaires while relaxing in the cafeteria of the resort after skiing. Two hundred and sixty eight skiers were approached, and two hundred and twenty (N=268) of them accepted to fill the questionnaires, achieving a response rate of 88%.

Three demographic variables were included as follows: gender (males and females), the age of the respondents, which was coded in three categories (18-25, 26-35, 36-65), and level of education (primary education, secondary education and university graduates). The demographic characteristics of the sample are presented in Table 1.

Skiers were also categorized according to their level or participation: infrequent, moderate, and frequent participants.

Research Instruments

Constraints Scale

An adjusted version of the leisure constraints questionnaire (Alexandris & Carroll, 1997a, 1997b) was used in order to investigate the perception of constraints on skiing participation. This was a twenty six item instrument, with was developed and standardized by the Greek population (Alexandris & Carroll, 1997a). It was reported by Alexandris and Carroll (1977b) to have good psychometric properties (Cronbach’s alpha for the whole scale = .85, all items with factor loadings >.40, and Cronbach’s’ alpha >.60 in each factor). Furthermore, it was tested against demographic groups, and showed adequate discriminatory power. This scale was adapted to recreational skiing constraints after conducting interviews with six experienced skiers and five ski instructors. This procedure led to the addition of one more constraint reading ‘problems related to weather conditions’. Respondents were asked to evaluate the importance of each of the twenty three statements as limiting or prohibiting factors for their participation in skiing, using a seven point Likert scale ranking from very important (7) to not important (1). The internal reliability of the whole ski constraints scale was successfully (Cronbach’s alpha = .88).

Results

The demographic characteristics of the sample are presented in Table 1.

——————————————————————————-

See Table1 on Page 2

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The top-ten constraints for the whole population

The ten top highest scored constraints were: the three financial related constraints C19/M=4.6, C20/M3.6, and C21/M=3.4), the three lack of time related constraints (lack of time because of work / studies, family or social obligations, C1/M=4.8, C2/M=2.9, and C3/M=3.1), the two lack of partner related constraints (C22/M=3.2, C23/M=3.0), problems related to the weather conditions (C16/M=3.3), and the lacks of skills problems (‘no effective ski technique’, C8/M=4.6). These results are presented in Table 2.

Levels of skiing participation.

In order to examine the frequency of skiing participation, the proportions of participants who fell into the three categories (infrequent, moderate, and frequent participation) were calculated. The results indicated that there was a certain group of individuals (32.5%) who were shown to be only ‘infrequently’ participants in winter skiing (one to four times per winter season). The second subgroup (54.5%) participated ‘moderately’ in skiing (five to 9 times per year). Finally 13.3% of the respondents stated that they participated ‘frequently’ (more than 10 times per winter season).

The top-ten constraints by the level of participation

Generally speaking the lack of time related constraints were cited as the most important ones for all the three participation groups. Among the few differences, the item reading “skiing is not among my priorities” was included only in the top-ten list of the ‘infrequently’ participation group, and the constraints reading ‘I don’t like the ski resort environment” and “I do not feel safe” were included only within the ‘frequently’ level top ten list.

——————————————————————————-

See Table2 on Page 2

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Constraints and levels of participation.

Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences in thirteen constraints among the three different participation levels. The most significant difference was found in constraint C12 ‘skiing is not on my priorities’, F (2,235) = 29.4, p< .001), followed by the C8 constraint ‘no effective ski technique’, F (2,230) = 18.3, p< .001), and the C25 constraint ‘my family doesn’t like skiing’, F (2,234) = 13.2, p< .001). Each of the significant ANOVAs was followed by Scheffe’s post-hoc comparisons to determine between which groups the differences were statistically significant. The ANOVA’s results are presented in detail in Table 3.

——————————————————————————-

See Table3 on Page 2

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Skiing Participation by Age, Gender and Marital status (% of the population).

Age and frequency of participation

A cross-tabulation of the age groups against the levels of participation (infrequently, moderately, and frequently) revealed statistical significant differences (see Table 4). The level of participation was negatively correlated with ascending age group levels (x 2=12, p<.01). Age 1 group achieved the highest rate (40.2 %) in ‘infrequently’ participation level and the lowest rate in ‘frequently’ level. In contrast, the older participant group (age 3) achieved the highest rate (52.9 %) in ‘frequently’ participation level and the lowest in ‘infrequently’ level.

Gender and frequency of participation

An association also found between participation and gender (x 2=5.7, p<.05), with male recreational skiers having higher participation rates than females. Contrary, younger female ski groups participated in skiing more ‘infrequently’ (45.5%) than the older female groups in ‘frequently’ participation levels (21. 2%).

Marital status and frequency of participation

Non significant relationship (x 2= 4, p< n. s.) revealed between participation levels and participants marital status. There was only a trend for the single individuals to participate more ‘frequently’ in skiing that the married ones.

——————————————————————————-

See Table4 on Page 2

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Discussion

Lack of time related constraints were revealed by all studies that investigated constraints on recreation participation. (Alexandris & Carroll, 1997a; 1997b; Kay & Jackson, 1991 ). Skiing is an even more time consuming activity since it required traveling to the skiing resorts, which usually are far away from the urban places. Resorts managers have almost no influence on removing these constraints. The results also indicated that financial problems were reported as important ones by the majority of participants. This finding is once again related to the specific requirements of the activity in question (skiing). Skiing is still considered as an expensive sport for the majority of the population. While lowering prices is not obviously a realistic suggestion for resort managers, efforts should be made towards promoting skiing packages for families (family packages) and specific groups of the population (e.g., students) that are facing financial problems, if these groups are to be targeted.

The high mean score of the item reading “skiing is not among my priorities” for the lowest participation level group (infrequently) explains in a degree their unwillingness to participate more frequently. While this is obviously an intrapersonal constraint related to preferences and personal interest, it could be argued that this constraint could in a way be removed by providing outdoor education and making winter skiing in Greece a more “mass” sport.

The high statistical differences that revealed on the constraints “I do not have good skiing skills”, “I do not have self-confidence”, and I do not know how to skiing” are also important findings, since they indicated that intrapersonal constraints are in a degree responsible for the low participation rates of some individuals. This finding is in line with previous research that conducted in other leisure and recreation settings (e.g., Alexandris & Carroll, 1997). As previously discussed, intrapersonal are internal constraints that are related to individual psychological states and attributes. The removal of intrapersonal constraints is not an easy task since they are not beyond the control of the organization (Alexandris & Carroll, 1999). In the case of skiing, however, it is clear that there are a certain groups of individuals who do not feel confident about their skills and abilities, and this limits their participation levels. Once again efforts should be made towards the promotion of skiing. Having free teaching classes could help towards this direction. It is important that beginners should get as much support as possible by the repost teachers and staff.

In terms of profiling recreational skiers that results indicated that the most frequent skiers are young, single and male individuals. This once again suggests that there is space for better promotion on the side of resort marketers. There should be promotional strategies targeting females, families and older individuals ( Havitz et al, 1994; Dimanche et al, 1993) . Different promotional strategies are obviously required as well as different design of the main product. Examples could be offering skiing opportunities for the whole family, offering light programs for old individuals, improving the whole experience by emphasising on the physical environment.

References

  1. Alexandris, K., & Stodolska, M. (2004). The influence of perceived constraints on the attitudes towards recreational sport participation. Leisure and Society, 27, 197-217.
  2. Alexandris, K., & Carroll, B. (1999). Constraints on Recreational Sport Participation in Adults in Greece: Implications for Providing and Managing Sport Services. Journal of Sport Management, 13, 317-332.
  3. Alexandris, K. (1998a). Patterns of recreational sport participation among the adult population in Greece. Cyber Journal of Sport Marketing, 2(2), 1-9.
  4. Alexandris, K., & Carroll, B. (1997a). An analysis of leisure constraints based on different recreational sport participation levels: Results from a study in Greece. Leisure
  5. Sciences, 19, 1-15.
  6. Alexandris, K., & Carroll, B. (1997b). Motives for recreational sport participation in Greece: Implications for planning and provision of sport services. European Physical Education Review, 3(2), 129-143.
  7. Crawford, D., Jackson, E., & Godbey, G. (1991). A hierarchical model of leisure constraints. Leisure Sciences, 13, 309-320.
  8. Crawford, D., & Godbey, G. (1987). Reconceptualizing barriers to family leisure. Leisure Sciences, 9, 119-127.
  9. Daniels, M., Drogin Rodgers, E., & Wiggins, B., (2005). ‘‘Travel Tales’’: an interpretive analysis of constraints and negotiations to pleasure travel as experienced by persons with physical disabilities. Tourism Management, ??, ???,???
  10. Dellaert, B. Ettema, D., & Ch., Lindh, (1998). Multi-faceted tourist travel decisions: a constraint-based conceptual framework to describe tourists’ sequential choices of travel components. Tourism Management, 19, No 4, 313-320.
  11. Dimanche, F., Havitz, M. E., & Howard, D. R. (1993). Segmenting recreationists and tourists using involvement profiles. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 1 (4), 33-52.
  12. Havitz, M. E., & Dimanche, F., & Bogle, T. (1994). Segmenting the adult fitness market using involvement profiles. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration. 12 (3), 35-56.
  13. Hendricks, W. W. (2004). Extending Importance-Performance Analysis with Benefit-Based Segmentation. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 22, 1. 53-74.
  14. Jackson, E. (1991). Special issue, introduction. Leisure constraints/constrained leisure, Leisure Sciences, 13, 273-8.
  15. Jackson, E. (1993). Recognizing patterns of leisure constraints: Results from alternative analyses. Journal of Leisure Research, 25, 129-149.
  16. Jackson, E., & Rucks, V. (1993). Reasons for ceasing participation and barriers to participation: Further examination of constrained leisure as an internally homogeneous concept. Leisure Sciences, 15, 217-230.
  17. Kay, T., & Jackson, G., (1991). Leisure despite constraint: The impact of leisure constraint on leisure participation. Journal of Leisure Research, 23, 301-313.
  18. Kim, N., & Chalip, L., (2004). Why travel to the FIFA World Cup? Effects of motives bachground. Tourism Management, 25, 695-707
  19. McIntyre, N., & Pigram, J.J. (1992). Recreation specialization re-examined: The case of vehicle-based campers. Leisure Sciences, 14 (1), 36-40.
  20. Nyaupane, G., Morais, D., & Graefe, A., (2004). Nature tourism constraints. A cross activity comparison. Annals of Tourism Research, 31, No 3, 540-555.
  21. Williams, P., & Fidgeon, P., (2000). Addressing participation constraint: a case study of potential skiers. Tourism Management, 21, 379-393.

 

Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of the Sample

Gender Age of groups Education level Marital Status
Males 63%Females 37% 18<25 36.3% Primary level 35% Single 79,4%
26<32 35.5% Secondary level 42% Married 20,6%
36<65 23,2% University level 23,9%

Table 2 The most significance constraints according to the frequency of participation

a/a The most significant constraints for recreation skiing
1 <p”> C1 Time: work/studies
2 <p”> C2 Time: family
3 <p”> C3 Time: social commitments
4 <p”> C8 No effective ski technique
5 <p”> C12 Skiing is not on my priorities
6 <p”> C15 Don’t like ski resort environment
7 <p”> C16 Difficult weather conditions
8 <p”> C18 Don’t feel safe
9 <p”> C19 Cannot afford
10 <p”> C20 Accessibility is a problem
11 <p”> C21 Difficulty to find money
12 <p”> C22 Have no always friends to participate with
13 <p”> C23 Friends don’t like participation
The Top 10 for all Participants The Top 10 for Occasional Participants The Top 10 for Often Participants The Top 10 for Systematic Participants
1 C1 , M=4.8, SD=1.8 C19 , M=4.9,SD=1.7 C1 , M=4.9,SD=1.8 C19 , M=4.3,SD=2.1
2 C19 ,M=4.6, SD=1.8 C1 , M=4.8,SD=1.9 C19 , M=4.5,SD=1.8 C1 , M=3.9,SD=2.0
3 C20 ,M=3.6, SD=1.8 C20 , M=4.4,SD=1.9 C16 , M=3.4,SD=1.7 C20 , M=3.2,SD=2.0
4 C21 ,M=3.6, SD=1.8 C21 , M=4.2,SD=1.8 C20 , M=3.2,SD=1.8 C16 , M=3.0,SD=1.4
5 C16 ,M=3.4, SD=1.8 C22 , M=4.1,SD=1.9 C21 , M=3.2,SD=1.9 C15 , M=2.8,SD=1.9
6 C22 ,M=3.3, SD=1.9 C12 , M=3.9,SD=1.9 C3 , M=3.0,SD=1.8 C2 , M=2.5,SD=1.3
7 C3 , M=3.2, SD=1.8 C8 , M=3.8,SD=1.9 C22 , M=2.9,SD=2.0 C18 , M=2.4,SD=1.9
8 C23 ,M=3.1, SD=1.8 C23 , M=3.5,SD=1.8 C23 , M=2.8,SD=1.7 C3 , M=2.4,SD=1.8
9 C8 , M=3.0, SD=1.9 C3 , M=3.5,SD=1.8 C2 , M=2.8,SD=1.8 C22 , M=2.3,SD=1.5
10 C2 , M=2.9, SD=1.8 C16 , M=3.4,SD=2.0 C8 , M=2.6,SD=1.7 C23 , M=2.3,SD=1.6

 

Table 3. Anova’s between constraints and different frequency of participation

Constraints F change & probability Differences between groups
C12, Skiing is not on my priorities F (2,235) = 29.4, p<.001 1-2**, 1-3**
C8 , No effective ski technique F (2,230) = 18.3, p<.001 1-2**, 1-3**
C25, My family doesn’t like skiing F (2,234) = 13.2, p<.001 1-2**, 1-3**
C22, Have no fiends to participate with F (2,234) = 11.7, p<.001 1-2**, 1-3**
C21, Difficulty to find money F (2,234) = 11.2, p<.001 1-2**, 1-3**
C10, I don’t have self confidence F (2,235) = 8.3, p<.001 1-2*, 1-3*
C11, I don’t know why to skiing F (2,233) = 6.8, p<.001 1-2*, 1-3*
C20, Accessibility is a problem F (2,240) = 6.5, p<.01 1-2*
C23, My friends don’t like skiing F (2,232) = 6.1, p<.01 1-3*
C14, I don’t like very much skiing F (2,235) = 5.2, p<.01 1-2*, 1-3*
C3, Time: Social commitments F (2,236) = 4.0, p<.05 1-3*
C1, Time: Work/studies F (2,247) = 3.7, p<.05 2-3*
C2, Time: Family F (2,234) = 3.1, p<.05 1-3*

<p”>** p<.oo1, *p<.05

Table 4. Ski Participation by Age, Gender and Marital status (% of the population).

DemoVariables Different frequency of annual participation
Occasionally Often Systematic
Age x 2= 12, p< .01 Age 140.2% Age 229.3% Age 330.5% Age 128.1% Age 230.2% Age 341.7% Age 18.8% Age 238.2% Age 352.9%
Gender x 2= 5.7, p< .05 Male54.5% Female45.5% Male59.8% Female40.2% Male78.8% Female21.2%
Marital Status x 2= 4, p= n.s. Single84.2% Married15.8% Single78% Married22.7% Single65.6% Married34.4%
2015-03-24T10:34:53-05:00September 5th, 2005|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on Investigating Demographic and Attitude Characteristics of Recreational Skiers: An Application of Behavioral Segmentation
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