Sports Management Issue 1 2012 - Leisure Opportunities

RESEARCH
The choice to play sport also involves
a time commitment – and the economic
situation can have an impact on this. It
may be argued that someone who loses
their job has more time to play sport, but
research suggests that any impact here
is short lived, over-ridden in the longer
term by increasing social isolation and
the negative psychological effect of being
unemployed. For a large number
of people, challenging economic times
mean increased demands in terms of
working longer hours and increased
pressure in the work environment.
Analysis from the survey, although not
able to directly address all the questions
raised above, does provide an interesting
insight into changing patterns of participation
– and the importance of economic
Reasons given for doing less sport
now than at the same time last year
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
APS data helps to inform decisions
and investments to grow participation
factors in people’s decision to participate
or drop out or at least do less sport.
The survey asks people whether their
participation rates are the same, higher
or lower than at the same time last year.
Roughly a half say they’re doing the same
amount, with about a quarter claiming
to be doing more and a quarter saying
they’re doing less. Those respondents who
say they’re doing less are asked why this
is the case. The table below shows that
around a third put this down to economic-related
factors. These include specific
reason such as: loss of job; less income; too
expensive; and lack of time due to work
commitments – such as longer hours or a
longer commute.
These questions have only been asked
since October 2009, but from the evidence
Economic related
injury / illness / medical
health / age
Less time (non work related)
Increasing age
Pregnancy / childcare / family
lack of interest/motivation
The weather
Opportunities / facilities
Disability
Left school
Prefer time on other activities
VALUED LOCAL MEASUREMENT
W
ith at least 500 respondents
per local authority area,
the APS provides a picture
of participation at the local level. It’s
one of the reasons the Department
of Health, which helps to fund the
survey, has chosen to add new questions
to find out more about people’s
BMI across England.
Local councils tend to focus on a wider
measure of participation than the
sport-specific figures reported nationally
and regionally by Sport England.
In Oxfordshire, all five district local
authorities have been working
together since 2006 on a strategy for
sport and active recreation through
the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership.
The partnership’s managing director,
Chris Freeman, says: “Having a
consistent measure of participation
means we can benchmark our progress
against previous years. APS has
helped us to understand participation
and we’ve then used the market
segmentation tool to develop the
right activities in the right places.
“We’ve seen consistent increases in
participation in Oxfordshire, demonstrating
the value of the joined-up
approach alongside the support of
Sport England and the PCT for our
Get Oxfordshire Active programme.
This has increased our influence,
with sport now included in the Oxfordshire
Sustainable Community Strategy
and has led to a successful bid for additional
funding for an activator post via
the Health and Well Being Board.”
of the first eight quarters, economic factors
are becoming more important. This
is supported by the government’s Family
Spending Report 2011, which shows that
the average weekly spend on ‘recreation
and culture’ has dipped from £70.10 in
2005 to £58.10 last year.
We might expect economic factors to
have a greater impact on time-consuming
and higher cost sports such as sailing, but
we should recognise that the economic
situation is part of a complex set of influences
that affect people’s leisure choices.
Sports governing bodies, local councils and
leisure operators are working to adapt
their sporting offer to reflect people’s
changing circumstances and lifestyle. For
example, evening sessions could mitigate
the impact of longer working hours, while
pay-and-play or low-cost options could
lessen the impact of a tighter budget.
26 Read Sports Management online sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
Issue 1 2012 © cybertrek 2012