Campus recreational sports programs are designed to provide an on-campus leisure opportunity for college students, hopefully enhancing their quality of collegiate life. Yet, not all students choose to participate, much to the chagrin of recreational sports professionals and school administrators. The purpose of this study was to investigate how perceived constraints on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural levels influenced the participation of college students in recreational sports activities on an urban, commuter campus and a residential, rural campus. The sample of subjects consisted of 416 students who considered themselves nonparticipants in campus recreational sports. The results indicated that lack of time because of work, school or family, and not knowing the available activities were the two most strongly perceived constraints. Further investigation on differences in perceived constraints was conducted with respect to subjects' age, gender and place of residence.

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The 1980s and 1990s saw tremendous growth in campus recreational sports programs. The emergence of these programs as significant contributors to the higher education mission has led practitioners to recognize the importance of increased student involvement in this area of campus life. One of the issues facing campus recreational sports is a lack of theoretical and empirical research in almost all facets of the field. This study examined participation patterns in recreational sports programs and facilities at 314 colleges and universities (n=4000) in four groups of years: 1983–1986, 1987–1990, 1991–1994, and 1995–1998 using data derived from the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ) and the Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning at Indiana University, Bloomington. The results of the study revealed the following: (a) there was no significant difference in student involvement for the recreational sports programs and facilities variables under investigation; (b) significant differences were found for all areas of recreational sports involvement under investigation regarding participants' gender, age, and place of residence, with males, students under the age of 22, and on-campus students reporting higher rates of recreational sports involvement than females, students over the age of 22, and off-campus students (p<.001); (c) there were no significant year-by-gender, year-by-age, or year-by place-of-residence interaction effects; d) where significant main effect differences were found, effect sizes (η2 partial) were fairly low.

Professionals in campus recreation have relied most often on participant numbers to justify programs and facilities. However, very little research has been conducted to justify programs. This paper suggests that as a profession we should assess programs and facilities using research that utilizes the constructs of quality of life and leisure satisfaction. Further, it outlines current NIRSA-funded research that utilizes those constructs in an attempt to assess a campus recreation program. If this research project is successful, assessing quality of life and leisure satisfaction could be a viable method for assessment of campus recreation programs. A good assessment method could assist the profession to justify the need for programs and facilities.