Children’s Motivation for Participation in and Withdrawal from Sport: Identifying the Missing Links

Abstract

Children’s reasons for participating in sport as well as their reasons for discontinuing involvement have been extensively studied over the last decade. However, a complete understanding of the underlying processes influencing these phenomena has been clouded by failing to consider a number of individual difference and contextual factors related to sport participation. These missing links include participant status group differences, program type, level of intensity, type of sport, particular reasons for attrition, multiple assessments across a season, developmental differences, and the social structure surrounding the sport experience. Future research possibilities and practical implications for pediatric educators are provided.