Some scholars argue that organized sport is a viable context for different ethnic and racial groups to learn about one another and experience positive intergroup contact. Other scholars insist that hierarchical arrangements and competitive natures may actually exacerbate existing tensions among ethnic and racial groups. Less is known about whether or not recreational sport settings can facilitate positive intergroup contact. These contexts are often free of hierarchical arrangement and competition among participants, which potentially secure the equality of participants and facilitate positive interracial contact. The purpose of this study was to gain richer insights into the phenomenon of interracial contact that Korean Americans experience in recreational sport settings. This study was guided by three research questions: (1) Do Korean Americans perceive the presence of contact hypothesis' optimal conditions in recreational sport settings? (2) What factors influence Korean Americans' perception toward the presence or absence of optimal conditions? (3) Can participating in serious leisure activity with different racial groups contribute to interracial harmony? This study adopted qualitative research methods with a phenomenological approach. Face-to-face, in-depth, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 Korean American males who participated or have been participating in recreational sports with racially mixed teams. The interviews were conducted in August and September, 2008, in two southern cities. Four findings are articulated. First, informants held variable perceptions toward the presence of contact hypothesis' optimal conditions. Second, informants supported the existence of friendship opportunities. This study identified six key factors that play a critical role in formulation of informants' perceptions toward the existence of each optimal condition. They were: (1) skill level, (2) racial stereotypes, (3) physical attributes of recreational sport participants, (4) language proficiency, (5) atmosphere or culture within different recreational sport contexts, and (6) longevity of contact. Finally, informants felt that participating in recreational sports with different racial groups contributes to harmonious interracial relations. The findings showed that it is problematic to a priori assume that recreational sports satisfy the optimal conditions of contact situations. Moreover, findings suggest that satisfaction of optimal conditions in recreational sport contexts may not be necessary for positive interracial contact to occur.

Recreation programs have become important resources on college campuses. They can provide important benefits to students and to the university. Students benefit from the opportunity to participate in leisure activities, which helps them develop a healthy lifestyle. The university benefits from the assistance in retaining students who might otherwise terminate their enrollment. This study presents information regarding intramural programs at colleges and universities in 1997. The following questions were researched: 1) What activities are currently being offered for intramural competition in universities that are institutional members of the NIRSA and list a student population between 10,001 and 30,000? 2) How many teams compete in these events? 3) What percent of the university community participates in intramural sports? The study surveyed those colleges and universities who were institutional members of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) in 1997, and had a listed student population between 10,001-30,000. A total of 150 institutions met the criteria and wereincluded in the study. These 150 institutions were grouped into three population categories (10,001-15,000; 15,001-20,000; 20,001-30,000). They were also grouped into six regional categories, as defined by the NIRSA. A survey return rate of 71% was achieved. Survey respondents were asked to list the activities offered in their intramural programs, and the number of teams entered in those activities. Respondents were also asked to identify the percent of the university community that participates in intramural sports. Over 50% of respondents indicated that 11-40% of their campus community participates in intramural sports. It is difficult to draw comparisons in any given activity. The number of teams entered varied significantly from one institution to another. Recreation professionals can use this study to identify new activities to add to their intramural programs. The information can assist in identifying intramural activities that might be of interest to students on their campus. Activities that draw a large number of teams at other institutions might be successful on many campuses. Activities that do not attract many entries may not be of interest to students, and are therefore less likely to be successful on other campuses. / School of Physical Education

Thesis (M.S.)--Ball State University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-57).

Much research has shown that regular physical activity influences both physiological and psychological health. More specifically, physical activity positively impacts wellbeing, across physical, emotional and social wellness. Furthermore, group-based physical activity has been linked to increasing adherence to an exercise protocol as well as improving social connectedness. For college students, collegiate recreation facilities are the main providers of physical activity services and programming for the campus population to utilize. In the collegiate recreation literature, several university studies have pointed out that students who participate in their recreational facilities and programs have benefited from positive feelings of wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that Virginia Tech Recreational Sports' group-based fitness programming has on Virginia Tech students' overall wellbeing. Wellbeing was defined by six dimensions: career (or sense of purpose), social, financial, community, physical and emotional. This study used a concurrent explanatory mixed methods design, composed of a brief cross-sectional survey and focus groups. This work simultaneously contributes to collegiate recreation by providing evidence that students who utilize facilities and programs have higher perceptions of wellbeing as well as highlighting suggested strategies for improvement including resource limitations and communication barriers. Finally, in terms of group fitness and wellbeing, this thesis provides preliminary evidence that those who participate in collegiate group exercise programs have higher perceptions of physical and social wellbeing. / Master of Science / Regular physical activity influences both physical and mental health. More specifically, physical activity positively impacts wellbeing, across physical, emotional and social wellness. Furthermore, group-based physical activity has been linked to increasing adherence to an exercise protocol as well as improving social connectedness. For college students, collegiate recreation facilities are the main providers of physical activity services and programming for the campus population to utilize. In the collegiate recreation literature, several university studies have pointed out that students who participate in their recreational facilities and programs have benefited from positive feelings of wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that Virginia Tech Recreational Sports' group-based fitness programming has on Virginia Tech students' overall wellbeing. Wellbeing was defined by six dimensions: career (or sense of purpose), social, financial, community, physical and emotional. This study used a concurrent explanatory mixed methods design, composed of a brief cross-sectional survey and focus groups. This work simultaneously contributes to collegiate recreation by providing evidence that students who utilize facilities and programs have high perceptions of wellbeing as well as highlighting suggested strategies for improvement related to access, programs, variety and communication. Finally, in terms of group fitness and wellbeing, this thesis provides preliminary evidence that those who participate in collegiate group exercise programs have higher perceptions of physical and social wellbeing.

In the last decade outdoor and recreational activities hence white-water rafting gained more attention in the sport market. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, every year around 600.000 local and foreigner people are purchasing and participating in the white-water rafting activity as outdoor and recreational consumers. However, there has been little research done on outdoor and recreational sports participants. In particular, the reason why consumers participate in outdoor and recreational activities has not been investigated in the local market although the number of participants is rapidly extending. Since motivation and decision making behavior is a significant determinant of sport. participation, it is essential for the sport marketers to understand and evaluate psychological needs and motivations of outdoor sport participants. The purpose of this study is to analyze motivational factors of individuals as consumers who become involved in a daily rafting trip as an outdoor and recreational sport. The current research has been modified and applied from the survey of motivations of the sport consumer which was developed by McDonald and Milne (1999). The original instrument includes 43 items which represent 13 motivation factors. The survey questionnaire attempts to define and portray the Turkish white-water rafting consumers by analyzing the thirteen constructs on 517 white-water rafting trip participants and adapt the Milne &amp / McDonald&rsquo / s (1999) Motivation of the Sport Consumer Scale to Turkish culture by examining Turkish outdoor and recreational sport consumers in the case of a daily white water rafting rafting trip. To determine the dimensional structure of the items chosen and to assess the adequacy of motivational factors of the rafting consumers, data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Maximum Likelihood factor method was used to extract possible factors, followed by an oblique rotation to identify stable factor loadings for each item. Results of the exploratory factor analysis indicated the existence of a nine dimensions, (Self actualization &amp / self esteem, aggression, physical fitness, social facilitation, achievement &amp / competition, stress release, affiliation &amp / aesthetics, risk taking, value development) in 43-item, scale that accounted for 56.654% of the common variance. According to the results of the second factor analysis generated to define the 4 sub factors , the first factor that labeled as &lsquo / Mental well being needs&rsquo / was defining the 26.131 % of the common variance. The second factor &lsquo / Sport based needs&rsquo / was defining the 6.569 % of the common variance. The third factor which was including only the &lsquo / physical fitness&rsquo / construct / defined the 6.523 % of the common variance and labeled as Fitness needs. Finally the fourth factor which was labeled as social well being needs defined the 5.116 % of the common variance and contained the social facilitation and affiliation constructs. .

The problem of this study was to determine if the competencies identified by recreational sports practitioners as most needed for entry into the profession were the same as those identified by chairpersons of preparatory departments. Furthermore, this study determined if chairpersons of physical education and recreation curricula identified significantly different competency areas for entry level personnel. The two populations of respondents were from sixty seven institutions listed in the 1982 SPRE-NRPA Curriculum Catalog. Each subject was asked to complete a copy of the Jamieson Recreational Sports Competency Analysis. The criterion scores for each of the statements were divided into twelve competency areas for analysis.

Background: The leisure and recreational sports market, a multibillion-dollar industry, isexperiencing a transformative shift. With increased competition and changing consumerdemographics, businesses and facilities are seeking innovative strategies to ensure customerretention and maintain profitability. Golf, as a key player in this sector, has seen a resurgencein popularity due to its adaptability during social distancing measures. Amid this growth, theindustry faces challenges to engage and retain a new demographic of golfers. To address this,experiential marketing, emphasizing immersive and interactive customer experiences, hasbecome increasingly critical. This approach focuses on creating memorable experiences ratherthan simply providing product or service information. Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of experiential marketing oncustomer engagement and loyalty within the golf industry, specifically analyzing howdifferent golf course dimensions affect consumers' emotional responses and willingness toreturn. This research will provide valuable insights for the development of effectiveexperiential marketing strategies in participation sports. Method: Ontology - Constructivism; Epistemology - Interpretivism; Methodology - Multiplecase study; Data collection - 10 semi-structured interviews; Sampling - Criterion sampling,which followed the criteria: (1) recent experience, participants must have played at both golfcourses during the 2023 season, ensuring that their experiences and feedback are current andrelevant to the present-day amenities offered by the clubs, while also minimizing theinfluence of any seasonal effects. (2) geographic location, participants must reside within theJönköping region, as this helps ensure that their experiences are not biased due to traveling toa new region or country, which could potentially lead to biased conclusions. (3) time played,the golfers must have completed at least 18 holes of golf as to ensure that they get the fullexperience at both of the selected golf courses.; Data Analysis – Content Analysis (creation ofa tree-diagram based on quotes, sub-categories, generic categories and main categories) Conclusion: This research offers insights into how experiential marketing dimensions likeamenities, atmosphere, and customer service influence golfer satisfaction and returnintentions. Key findings indicate that these elements elicit strong emotional responses, drivinggolfer loyalty. A holistic approach that addresses both tangible and intangible elementsenhance overall satisfaction. This study underlines the need for continued research into thesefactors to support the development of effective strategies for the golf industry.

No description available.

L’objet de notre recherche vise à identifier les chemins de l’émancipation individuelle desdescendantes sportives de migrants maghrébins habitantes de quartier populaire.Parler d’émancipation féminine dans un contexte d’héritage migratoire arabo-musulman suscite unrisque de lecture du processus au travers de catégories sociales ethnocentrées. Le premier travail a doncconsisté en une déconstruction des catégories sociales dominantes puis en une reconstruction de catégoriesd’intelligibilité du social afin de dépasser l’illusion de la relégation collective cumulée - sexuée, culturelle etsociale - des descendantes de migrants maghrébins et l’impasse pratique de l’injonction paradoxale de« fidélité versus rupture » vis-à-vis du système anthropologique arabo-musulman. Dès lors, notre lecturecompréhensive de l’engagement, minoritaire et innovant, des descendantes dans un loisir sportif, en tantqu’espace de tradition masculine impliquant particulièrement le corps, a permis d’appréhender les moteurs etmodalités d’une individualisation qui ne traduit pas une simple contestation pratique d’une tradition héritée.Cheminer vers la recherche des conditions de possibilité de leur expérience de loisir sportif et desimplications pratiques de cet engagement sur leur repositionnement dans divers rapports sociaux a exigé demobiliser une démarche de terrain enracinée. A l’issue d’une enquête quantitative basée sur un repéragepatronymique de la représentation des descendantes dans l’offre de loisir territorialisée d’un quartier bisontin,54 éclairages qualitatifs ont permis de recueillir la matière de cette recherche au fur et à mesure de 6 moisd’observation participante des loisirs sportifs sur le quartier.Nous avons constaté que les processus familiaux de transmissions mémorielles et culturelles –références sexuées et religieuses – sont les vecteurs d’une dynamique des générations source de changementsnégociés entre la génération des migrants et celle des descendants. Fonction des vécus pré et post-migratoires,ils conditionnent la définition de statuts féminins et masculins qui stimulent différentiellement tant la doubleinscription familiale et sociale que l’engagement dans des espaces et des pratiques renouvelés, dont le sport.Le statut du transmetteur, le genre de l’héritier, sa place dans la fratrie, la structuration de celle-ci définissentles conditions individualisées de transmission, mais aussi de réception, de ce fond commun familial. Dans unsystème d’échanges généralisés, les matrices de l’expérience, territoriale et scolaire, représentent alors uncontexte global de validation ou d’invalidation des stratégies éducatives parentales et définissent les conditionsde leur inflexion ou réorientation progressive. L’ensemble de ces transmissions et variables conduisent à desunivers des possibles sportifs fragmentés chez les descendantes de l’immigration maghrébine.Les implications de cet engagement en termes d’émancipation « en tant que descendantes del’immigration maghrébine dans un quartier populaire » ont alors été appréhendées du point de vue de leursexpériences, donc de ce qu’elles font et de ce qu’elles sont quand elles disent qu’elles sont émancipées. Lesbricolages situés ambivalents mis en place traduisent leur identification optionnelle fonction de la désignationincluse dans l’interaction, le moment et l’espace. Ils leur permettent de concilier leurs aspirations et référencescontradictoires, ainsi que les contraintes qui en découlent, et de re-prendre place simultanément dans lafiliation et la société au travers de processus pluriels d’autonomisation, d’individualisation, de distinction oud’autodétermination destinés à refuser les assignations. / The aim of our study was to identify the forms that individual emancipation takes for the women froma disadvantaged neighborhood in a French city who are involved in sports and are the descendants of NorthAfrican immigrants.We are well aware that a study of female emancipation within the context of Arab-Muslimimmigration could run the risk of being ethnocentrically biased. To avoid this, our first task involved adeconstruction of the dominant social categories, followed by a reconstruction of scientifically-based socialcategories in order to break out of both the current collective gender, cultural and social exclusion of thefemale descendants of North African immigrants and of the impasse presented by the dictate of "loyalty orrupture" which exists in the Arab-Muslim anthropological system. Our comprehensive study of thecommitments, which are few in number and innovative, of the female descendants who participate in arecreational sport that involves the body and which is usually reserved for males, provides the drivers andconditions of an individualization that is not simply rebellion against an inherited tradition.In order to research the conditions under which the women experienced recreational sports and thepractical implications that this commitment had on their repositioning in social relationships, we usedgrounded theory methodology. We used patronymic tracking in a quantitative survey to obtain the percentageof female descendants participating in recreational sport offered in a neighborhood of Besançon, France, andthen we carried out 54 qualitative interviews. The research material was collected over a 6-month period ofon-site observation of recreational sports activities.We found that family processes of memory and cultural transmissions (gender and religiousreferences) are drivers of a generational dynamic: sources of changes negotiated between the generation ofimmigrants and that of the descendants. Based on pre-and post-immigration experiences, these processesdetermine the definition of female and male status, which stimulates in different ways family and socialpositions, as well as a new type of involvement with space and the new practices that accompany participationin sport. The status of the transmitter, the gender of the inheritor, her place among siblings, and thestructuration of her place define not only the individualized conditions of transmission, but also the conditionsof their reception into the common family background. In a generalized system of exchange, the matrices ofexperience (neighborhood and school environs) are representative of the over-all context of validation orinvalidation of parental educational strategies and define the conditions either for their acceptance or for theirgradual reorientation. All these types of transmissions and variables produce sport experiences that are variedand different for female descendants of North African immigrants. .The implications of this commitment to emancipation by the female descendants of North Africanimmigrants in a disadvantaged neighborhood are demonstrated in our study in terms of their experiences, i.e.,in what they do and what they are when they say they are emancipated. The resulting assemblage of varyingopposing and similar elements reflects their optional identification based on interactions, a particular time, andspace. It enables these women to reconcile their conflicting aspirations and references, and the resultingconstraints, and at the same time to take a new place in filiation and society via the multi-leveled process ofself-determination, individualization, distinguishing themselves from other women, and self-empowerment.

No description available.