Sports participation among girls and women in Mount Frere, South Africa

Masteroppgave - Norges idrettshøgskole, 2012This study focuses on women and sports from sports and development perspective. The purpose of this study is to examine various aspects of female sports in a rural town in South Africa, called Mount Frere, with particular attention to experiences from sports involvement as well as facilitating sports for females. In order to contextualize the project, a brief background of the South African history has been given an account of, as well as issues related to and the organization of sports in South Africa. Furthermore, various concepts within sports and development that revolves around sports as a development tool and values within sports are presented, as well as the differences between plus sport and sport plus perspectives. Moreover, theoretical perspectives cover gender theory, socialization and empowerment. In order to get a deeper understanding of the local people’s perspectives and viewpoints, this study employs qualitative methods: interviews as well as field observations have been conducted during the fieldwork in Mount Frere. The interviewees, who range from people in the departments to female athletes, express various experiences about their sports involvement. The findings of the study is divided into two chapters, hence two research questions, where the first one discusses the local community members’ motives and experiences for being involved in Mount Frere women’s sports and the second one present and discusses barriers that can prevent women from being involved in sports. The findings show that the interviewees’ motives are more or less related to utilitarian values of sports, rather than intrinsic values of sports. Women in sports experience several barriers, such as general attitudes in the community, which could lead to dropout. Women essentially experience unequal distributions regarding economical resources, such as facilities, transportations and equipment, compared to their male counterparts