Publications by authors named "M Charity"

Background: Understanding participation in sport is important for sport policy, strategy and management. Most research regarding participation in sport report general trends in participation rates. However, as societies trends in leisure-time activities are changing, we need to also understand the settings of sport participation.

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Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19 significantly disrupted recreational physical activity (RPA) worldwide, leading to a decline in participation in team sports while individual and online activities saw an increase during restrictions.
  • The study aimed to analyze changes in participation patterns of club-based and informal sports in Australia across three timeframes: pre, during, and post-COVID-19 restrictions, considering factors like gender, age, and location.
  • Results showed that while most participants in informal sports (69%) continued their activities throughout the pandemic, club sport players faced significant dropouts, with less than half returning to play after restrictions were lifted.
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Sport participation and volunteering can make important contributions to good health. Sporting organisations need volunteers to deliver their participation opportunities and for many years the sector has faced challenges to volunteer recruitment and retention, especially due to the increased bureaucratic and compliance demands in operating community sports clubs. As sporting organisations pivot to adapt to COVID-safe sport we can learn about their experiences to inform volunteer recruitment and retention policies and practices.

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The aim of this study was to determine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on older adults' perceived health and well-being according to different types of participation in sport and physical activity by gender and region. A survey was implemented during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Australia (June 2020) and information collected on demographics, sport and physical activity patterns pre-COVID-19, and health and well-being outcomes during lockdown and compared to 1 year earlier. During COVID-19 lockdown, older adults who participated in both club sport and informal activities had significantly better general health, physical health, and resilience than those who participated solely in a single setting.

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Article Synopsis
  • * It highlights that participation in community sport was halted, and the survey involved 2,147 adults aged 18-59, with a majority being sport participants.
  • * Results show that men experienced worse overall health than women during lockdown, inactive individuals reported poorer health compared to active ones, and younger adults (18-29) had significantly lower life satisfaction and wellbeing scores.
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