By Tyrone Saul
Many Australians share an obsession with sport, with over 66 per cent of us participating in some form of sporting activity each week.
According to recent reports, Australia has one of the highest participation in sports per capita in the southern hemisphere.
So what drives our motivation to participate in sport ?
According to the Australian Sports Commission report, the notion of motivation to participate is gender specific.
Men for example are more likely than women to take part in organised sport.
They are also three times more likely to maintain their retention rate if exercise is structured around sport or some form of physical activity when in the company of other participants.
Women also have a higher prevalence of participation over longer periods when they are playing sport with others or being supervised or instructed during exercise.
One of the differentiating factors from the research is that women are twice as likely to participate in sport for its mental health benefits and its potential to influence body composition, or provide a means for weight loss.
In contrast, the data shows men are twice as likely as women to be motived by enjoyment and fun as the purpose for playing sport.
Both sexes rate health and fitness as the highest reason for participation.
The strength of such data reflects that whatever the purpose for participation, Australians enjoy being physically active through sport, and use it to gain a result or maintain some form of physical or mental health benefit.
So, what are the barriers to participation?
Not surprisingly, for adult Australians up to middle age, time pressure is by far the main barrier to participating in sport or physical activity.
Poor health and injury becomes a main factor with age.
Regardless of these barriers, 11.6 million Australians participated in some form of sport over the last half of the year, with the highest-ranking sporting activities being running/walking, swimming, cycling, golf, tennis, netball, touch and football (all codes) being the highest rated.
Regardless of individual motivations or the type of sports chosen, the evidence is overwhelming that Australians enjoy using sport as a means of physical activity for initiating, improving and maintaining their fitness, health and wellbeing.
