Overcoming Barriers to Participation in Campus Recreational Sports

Abstract

College students are often faced with barriers or constraints that prevent them from participating in campus recreational sports. Constraints have been examined in a campus recreational sports setting, but only with respect to students who did not participate. Constraints do not necessarily prevent a student from participating. Many students are able to overcome or negotiate these constraints and still manage to participate. Very little research has been done on the concept of negotiation in leisure. The purpose of this study was to examine negotiation strategies and methods used by college students to overcome constraints to participation in campus recreational sports. The sample consisted of 653 students and was analyzed based on gender, residence, and level of education. The results from t-tests and ANOVA procedures indicated that students use different negotiation strategies based on gender. Few differences were found based on residence and no differences were found based on level of education.