Adolescent dropout in swimming

Abstract

This exploratory study was conducted by survey questionnaire and focussed on adolescents between sixteen and twentytwo years-of-age, who were either currently involved or had participated in competitive swimming recently (dropouts). The survey was undertaken to determine what differences exist between the sexes, competitors and dropouts in terms of their demographic characteristics, attitude toward the sport, self-appraisal, coach-appraisal and opinion on reasons for attrition. Findings from this work show that for competitive swimming, attrition begins as early as twelve years-of-age but is most dramatic at fifteen and sixteen years-of-age. It was surprising to note that dropouts were more likely to come from families of higher socio-economic status and that embarking on further education or work caused many to discontinue participation. Other results confirm previous work, that the most important reason for attrition was 'other things to do', although moving to another sport and that swimming wasn't 'fun' but was 'boring' ranked highly as reasons for attrition. In regard to attitude differences, females displayed positive attitudes towards physical activity and emphasised affiliative outcomes of participation while indicating that they were less 'confident to do well' and felt competition 'pressure' to a greater extent than males. Parental support, a need for autonomy and understanding with better communication and instruction from coaches, was expressed by a majority of respondents. However, generally respondents felt 'relaxed normally', considered themselves to possess leadership qualities and were sociable, although females were inclined to show lower self and body esteem than their male counterparts.