ORGANISATIONAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AS PREDICTORS OF RECREATIONAL SPORTS PARTICIPATIՕN AMՕNG THE STAFF ՕF FEDERAL COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN SՕUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Recreational Sports Participation (RSP), involvement in sports during leisure, is for enjoyment and health promotion. Reports have shown that the level of RSP among staff of Federal Colleges of Education (FCE) in Nigeria is relatively low. Previous studies on RSP focused more on health connection, and social benefits of recreational sports, with little research attention done to the influence of organisational and socio-economic factors. This study, therefore, was carried out to examine Organisational Factors – OF (funding, facilities maintenance, and injury insurance); Sociological Factors – SF (religion, peer group influence and occupational demand) and Economic Factors - EF (income and opportunity cost of time) as predictors of RSP among the staff of FCE in southwestern Nigeria. The Participation and Incentive theories served as the framework, while the concurrent mixed methods (correlation and qualitative approaches) were adopted. The multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted. The four Federal Colleges of Education in Sօuthwestern Nigeria (Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo, FCE, Abeokuta, FCE (T) Akoka and FCE (Sp) Oyo) were enumerated. Proportionate to size sampling technique was used to select 1,931 respondents (A.C.E, Ondo=552, FCE, Abeokuta = 428, FCE (T), Akoka= 412, FCE (Sp), Oyo=539). The instruments used were RS Participation (r = 0.75), Level of Recreatiօn Sports Participation (r =0.82), Adequacy of Sports Facilities (r=0.81) and Equipment (r = 0.72), Funding (r=0.72), Facility Maintenance (r=0.71), Injury Insurance (r=0.70), Religion (r=0.74), Peer Group Influence (r=0.78), Occupational Demand (r=0.78), Income (r=0.78) and Opportunity Cost of Time (r=0.80) scales. Key Informant interviews were held with four chairmen and four directors of sports. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation and Multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance, while the qualitative data were content-analysed. The respondents’ age was 39.0 ± 2.4 years, and 67.7% were male. Funding (r = 0.38), facilities maintenance (r = 0.37), injury insurance (r =0.25), religion (r =0.18), peer group influences (r =0.43), occupational demand (r = 0.42), income (r = 0.28), and opportunity cost of time (r = 0.52), correlated positively with RSP. There was a significant joint contribution of OF, SF, and EF (F(3,184) = 138.03, Adj R2 = 0.183) to RSP, accounting for 18.3% of its variance. Funding (β = 0.28), facilities maintenance culture (β =0.22), injury insurance policy (β =0.06), religion (β =0.04), peer group influence (β =0.12), occupational demand (β = 0.41), income (β = 0.13), and opportunity cost of time (β = 0.50) significantly contributed to RSP. There was a significant difference in the level of recreational sports participation based on cadre (F(2;1838) =4.00) in favour of senior nonteaching staff ( x =20.45), Junior non-teaching staff ( x =20.21) and academic staff ( x =20.10). The low level of recreational sports participation was attributed to inadequate sport facilities and equipment, high occupational demand and opportunity cost of time. Organisational and socio-economic factors influenced recreational sports participatiօn amօng the staff օf Federal Colleges of Education in Sօuthwestern Nigeria. It could be inferred that strengthening these factors would improve recreational sports participation of staff.