2022 Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 1-12
The purpose of this study is to examine how the experience of belonging to athletic clubs during adolescence affects an individual's involvement status in sports later in life, and whether the influence differs depending on an individual's age group. Web surveys were given to those over the age of 18 living in the Kansai area. The survey remained open for participants to respond until the total number of responses reached 10,000, and the survey occurred between December 6–10, 2018. First, we treated the experience of belonging to athletic clubs in junior high school and high school as one of two values, either "belonged" or "did not belong." Then, they were divided into four groups as career patterns. In order to examine the relationship between sports career patterns of belonging to athletic clubs and an individual's current sports involvement status, we performed a one-way analysis of variance test. Next, in order to examine the relationship between the effect of the sports career patterns in youth and age, we performed a two-way ANOVA using career patterns and age groups as independent variables and the number of sports participated in and watched over the past year as dependent variables. The results of the ANOVA show significant differences in all items, such as exercise frequency and sports watching and volunteering habits. As the results of the two-way ANOVA show, the effect of the career patterns was significant in all items, and the effect of age groups was also significant in most items. Having experience in athletic club activities in adolescence may significantly contribute to the expansion of an individual's range of exercise and sports involvement after entering adulthood.
