Background/Purpose Currently, many parents are experiencing financial constraints as a result of unemployment, underemployment, and increased living expenses. Despite this, they make efforts to provide their children with participation opportunities in various recreational sport activities. The purpose of this study was to examine parents' motivations behind providing recreational sport opportunities for their children while experiencing challenging financial circumstances.
Method Twelve parents (8 female, 4 male) participated in this study. Participants represented single and dual parent households. Their children participated in various community based recreational sport leagues. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews.
Analysis/Results Three themes emerged with regard to participants' motivations behind providing recreational sport opportunities for their children. They were: strengthening family cohesion, developing interpersonal relationships outside the family unit, and developing their children's enjoyment of physical activity. Participation was valued because it served as a common interest between the parent and his/her child. Furthermore, parents valued their children's opportunity to improve social skills and develop friendships with peers. Lastly, they valued the benefits their children would gain from being physically active.
Conclusions The availability of recreational sport activities in the community is vital. These programs provide children with a safe participation environment and give children an opportunity to be physically active, which can help combat increasing threats to children's physical well being (e.g., obesity, diabetes). In light of reduced revenue streams, many youth sport community programs struggle to survive. Because many families benefit from these activities, community leaders are encouraged to employ measures so that families can continue to access these programs.
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