Learn, Have Fun and Be Healthy! An Interview Study of Swedish Teenagers’ Views of Participation in Club Sport

Abstract

In Sweden, participation in club sport is a vital part of many children’s lives. Despite this, many stop in their teenage years, raising questions concerning if and in what ways club sport can provide health-promoting activities via longer, sustained participation. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to explore and discuss young people’s views of club sport from a health-promoting perspective. The analysis draws on three sets of qualitative data: results from focus groups interviews conducted in 2007 (n = 14) and in 2016 (n = 8) as well as 18 in-depth interviews conducted 2008. Antonovsy’s salutogenic theory and his sense of coherence (SOC) model inspired the analysis. Teenagers want to be a part of club sport because of a sense of enjoyment, learning, belonging and feeling healthy. Teenagers stop when sport becomes too serious, non-flexible, time-consuming and too competitive. The urge for flexibility and possibilities to make individual decisions were emphasised in 2016. The organisation of club sport, it seems, has not adapted to changes in society and a generation of teenagers’ health interests. Club sport has the potential to be a health-promoting arena, but the focus should be on changing the club sport environment, instead of a focus on changing young people.

Understanding mental health promotion in organized leisure communities for young people: a realist review

“…The reviewed studies highlighted positive social relations and the experience of cohesion with teammates as influential in promoting mental health within sports communities ( 38 , 47 , 53 ). Two studies underscored the importance of young people deriving pleasure from togetherness with friends and feeling a sense of belonging within the community ( 48 , 74 ).…”

“…Learning and development of skills were identified as additional mechanisms promoting mental health in sports communities ( 48 , 53 , 74 ). It was found that challenging competitions and games, in conjunction with engaged trainers, played a significant role in motivating young people and fostering their skill development ( 47 ). The role of competence development as a mental health-promoting factor was also corroborated by studies exploring the self-determination theory ( 27 , 41 ).…”

Development of mental education through sports to enhance adolescent personal resilience

“…So mental education development programs for teenagers should be tailored to the health interests of the teenage generation. Sports clubs have the potential to become an arena for improving health, but the focus must be on changing the sports club environment, not focusing on changing the younger generation (Jakobsson & Lundvall, 2021). This means that the sports environment should adapt to the capacities and needs of young people, without losing the essence of the sport.…”

Can the Unesco Award be a Facilitator to Change the Quality in After-School Programmes? - Visions for Future

“…Sports clubs are spread all over the world and e.g. the problem of drop outs in the phase of adolescents is also evident for example in Norway (Lagestad & Sørensen 2018) and Sweden (Jakobsson & Lundvall 2021). So, to focus just this target group in the development of sports culture could have a high relevance for ASPO as well as for the next step concerning the acceptance in the international UNESCO ICH list.…”