Barriers to sports and recreation participation in three communities in Botswana

The purpose of this study was to assess barriers to sports and recreation participation among men and women aged 18-40 years in three communities in Botswana. Four hundred and thirty-two respondents (201 women and 231 men) participated in the study. A questionnaire was used to assess barriers to sports and recreation participation among men and women of the three communities in five barrier categories: aptitude, socio-economic, socio-cultural, awareness of facilities and facility constraints. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. T-test was used to determine the significant difference between genders in each respective constraint factor. Analysis of variance was used to test the variability for each gender. A frequency table was generated to reflect the rate of constraint factors among men and women in three communities in Botswana. The results showed that men and women of the three communities were constrained by socio-economic and facility barriers. Analysis of variance showed a significant difference among women of the three communities in the 3 barrier categories (aptitude, socio-economic and awareness of facilities), while no significant differences were found among men. Strategies that limit the adverse impact of socio-economic and facility constraints were suggested for the three communities. Key Words: Communities, barriers, constraints, leisure, recreation, sport, Botswana. AJPHERD Vol.10(4) 2004:306-31