Motivations to be active in club-based sport compared to fitness centres

Abstract

Purpose: Understanding motivations for participation in di ff erent types of physical activity and settings has important implications for growing, servicing and retaining participants. The aim of this study was to identify the motivations to engage in organised club-based sport and activity through fi tness centres. Methodology: Two surveys were conducted, of Australian adults, those playing sport or who were active through fi tness centres. Findings: 4,509 adult survey respondents reported their motivations for participating in sport clubs ( n = 3824) or fi tness centres ( n = 685). There were many signi fi cant di ff erences in the motivations between the two groups. Overall, sport club participants were signi fi cantly more likely to report fun and enjoyment, and social reasons for a motivation to play compared to fi tness centre users ( p < 0.001). The fi tness centre users were signi fi cantly more likely than the sport club participants to report physical health or fi tness, to lose weight/keep weight o ff /tone and for psychological/mental health/therapy ( p < 0.001). Practical implications: These fi ndings have implications for sport and fi tness centre managers in terms of program design decisions. For example, motivations may inform the creation of options that lean more to social or health outcomes for new users. Research contribution: This study uniquely investigates motivations for participation across organised sport clubs and fi tness centres.