The objectives of this study were to [1] understand the socially constructed motives, beliefs and attitudes that lead parents to encourage children into organised sport programs; [2] explore parents’ perceived benefits and challenges of engaging children into organised sport; and [3] identify broader social and cultural forces that influence parental decision-making surrounding young children’s contemporary sport participation.
In contemporary society, parents enrol children into organised sport from as young as three years of age. Although the benefits of sport participation are well documented, it is important to acknowledge early sport involvement can also prompt an increase injury risk, psychological burnout and/or sport dropout. Yet little is known about why parents enrol preschool aged children into organised sport, especially from a sociological perspective.
The results suggest that parental decision-making can be influenced by broader sociocultural, contextual, historical, and political forces which are perceived to construct, maintain, and perpetuate powerful ideologies that encourage children’s early sport involvement.
To read the full paper click Understanding parents motives for and beliefs abou_230517_090004.
