2 <strong>Polymers</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Sport</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Leisure</strong>
<strong>Polymers</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Sport</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Leisure</strong> 1 Introduction The general social <strong>and</strong> economic trend is that people live longer, work shorter hours, retire earlier, <strong>and</strong> have more free time <strong>and</strong> more disposable <strong>in</strong>come. The obvious result is that <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly they have more time <strong>and</strong> money to spend on leisure activities. Relatively recently, there has been someth<strong>in</strong>g of a crusade to persuade people that they should actively exercise to improve health <strong>and</strong> fitness. The result, not surpris<strong>in</strong>gly, is that now the majority of the population <strong>in</strong>, for example, the United K<strong>in</strong>gdom participate is some form of sport or exercise on a regular basis. It is unlikely that this trend will change <strong>in</strong> the near future. Governments <strong>and</strong> sports bodies have been aware of the value of sport <strong>in</strong> contribut<strong>in</strong>g to health <strong>and</strong> have encouraged participation, particularly amongst children <strong>and</strong> those near<strong>in</strong>g retirement. Large sums of both public <strong>and</strong> private money have been <strong>in</strong>vested <strong>in</strong> improved facilities for sports activities. It is rather difficult to def<strong>in</strong>e the boundaries of what constitutes sport <strong>and</strong> leisure, which impacts on mak<strong>in</strong>g sensible estimates of the total size of the market. Games such as soccer, baseball, cricket <strong>and</strong> hockey, together with athletics, are quite clearly understood to be sports. Many people consider angl<strong>in</strong>g to be a sport although <strong>in</strong> some of its forms it does not <strong>in</strong>volve great exercise. Walk<strong>in</strong>g can be considered a sport or simply a leisure activity which <strong>in</strong>volves exercise, but it certa<strong>in</strong>ly represents a significant market <strong>in</strong> footwear <strong>and</strong> cloth<strong>in</strong>g. Similarly, much of the participation <strong>in</strong> sail<strong>in</strong>g, horse rid<strong>in</strong>g, cycl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> motor<strong>in</strong>g is a pastime rather than a sport but would generally be considered <strong>in</strong> the sport <strong>and</strong> leisure market. Garden<strong>in</strong>g is an extremely popular leisure activity but is not thought of as sport. In terms of the market it is also possible to consider the expenditure by spectators rather than participants on items such as promotional cloth<strong>in</strong>g to disposable b<strong>in</strong>oculars for view<strong>in</strong>g. Def<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the market accurately is perhaps not important but it can easily be appreciated that it is very large <strong>and</strong> very diverse. Whilst the participation <strong>in</strong> sport <strong>and</strong> leisure activities, <strong>and</strong> hence the market for sports goods, has been generally <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g there have been, <strong>and</strong> doubtless will cont<strong>in</strong>ue to be, marked changes <strong>in</strong> the popularity of particular activities. The growth of some activities can be related to the availability of facilities. Several decades ago there were few golf courses, squash courts or gymnasia available to the public <strong>and</strong> the range of sports which could be called popular was much more limited than now. The <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> popularity <strong>and</strong> the availability of facilities <strong>in</strong>evitably have a f<strong>in</strong>ancial l<strong>in</strong>k both <strong>in</strong> the level of <strong>in</strong>vestment by the public <strong>and</strong> private sectors <strong>and</strong> the ability of the population to afford the activity. An obvious example is ski<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> other w<strong>in</strong>ter sports which previously were afforded by very few people. Inevitably, the widen<strong>in</strong>g of the range of available activities has adversely affected some traditional sports, notably team games, although this has been largely masked by the overall <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> participation. Fashion has a significant effect on sport popularity; it is doubtful that the enormous rises <strong>in</strong> the use of gymnasia or walk<strong>in</strong>g were predicted <strong>in</strong> advance, nor what causes the rise <strong>and</strong> fall <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> skate board<strong>in</strong>g. Fashions can change rapidly <strong>and</strong>, as with most th<strong>in</strong>gs, vigorous market<strong>in</strong>g by commercial <strong>in</strong>terests can be very persuasive on the public. Hence, it is probably impossible to confidently predict which areas will enjoy significant growth <strong>and</strong> which will suffer decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> the next decade. However, it is likely that the largest growth will be <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual sports rather than team games <strong>and</strong> that diversification will cont<strong>in</strong>ue. Figures for the USA show that overall spend<strong>in</strong>g on sports goods rose at 3%-6% annually through the 1990s but was a little less <strong>in</strong> 1999 (130). This <strong>in</strong>cluded a significant drop <strong>in</strong> footwear, particularly for basketball, but an <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> for exercise <strong>and</strong> soccer equipment! It is significant that the spend on athletic footwear was said to be twice that on sports equipment. The US sales for sports equipment <strong>and</strong> recreational transport was reported as about $40 billion <strong>in</strong> 1998 (171). The expansion of the sports <strong>and</strong> leisure <strong>in</strong>dustry has been noth<strong>in</strong>g but good news for the polymer <strong>in</strong>dustry. This has not simply been because of the volume <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> sports goods but because of the <strong>in</strong>roads polymers have made <strong>in</strong> replac<strong>in</strong>g traditional materials <strong>in</strong> this sector. Rubbers or plastics are found <strong>in</strong> a huge range of sports-related products from play<strong>in</strong>g surfaces to footwear <strong>and</strong> cloth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> there are extremely few areas where they have not become important. One facet of this is the immense variety of products, <strong>and</strong> materials, that make up the market, some be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> very significant quantity but others that are small niche markets. <strong>Sport</strong> is competitive <strong>and</strong> although there are often cost advantages <strong>in</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g polymers the ma<strong>in</strong> impetus for their adoption has been performance. It follows that many applications are for technically superior materials. The participants are often prepared to pay whatever it takes to have the best equipment at the top end of the market <strong>and</strong> this applies even for amateur <strong>and</strong> recreational use 3
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