Motives for competitive sports participation in masters track and field athletes: Impact of sociodemographic factors and competitive background

Abstract

Objectives Masters athletes due to their lifelong engagement in sport represent a unique group to study motivation for regular physical activity, but there is less scientific data on the sport motives in masters athletes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association of age, sex, education, nationality, competitive background and training amount with sport motives of masters track and field athletes. Methods 811 (254 women) athletes aged 35–89 years participated in European Veterans Athletics Championships in the year of 2000. Sport motives were assessed with a questionnaire and categorized into1) well-being, 2) competitive and performance 3) health and fitness motives. Results Men considered health and fitness motives more important than women (p = 0.022). Over 65-year-old athletes considered health and fitness motives more important than the youngest, 35-49-year age group (p<0.001). Education was not associated with sport motives, while motives varied significantly among different nationalities. Athletes from Nordic Countries considered well-being motives more important than Southern Europeans (p<0.001) or Western Europeans (p<0.05). Athletes from Nordic Countries (p = 0.003), Eastern Europe (p<0.001) and Central Europe (p<0.001) found health and fitness motives more meaningful than athletes from the British Isles. Furthermore, athletes with competitive background before the age of 35 and training amount more than 7.5 h a week found competitive and performance motives more important than athletes without a competitive history (p = 0.002). Conclusions These results suggest that age, sex, nationality and former athleticism are associated with sports motives among international level masters track and field athletes. It seems that while for masters athletes with competitive background performance motives dominate, for older adults, particularly for males, health and fitness motives are more important. In addition, when designing the exercise interventions for older adults, different sport motives across countries should be considered.

Self-Determined Regulation, Achievement Goals and Sport Commitment in Spanish Masters Swimmers

“…However, some of the findings of the present study differ from those of other works, especially when Masters from other sports are analysed. In contrast to these previous studies, we found no age-or gender-related differences [21,41]. In other studies, men have presented higher achievement goals than women, while the latter showed higher intrinsic motivation scores.…”

“…Meanwhile, the nature of the rewards in this type of activity is largely symbolic, with there being no significant financial rewards. Additionally, such rewards tend not to be valued by Masters athletes [41].…”

“…Concerning personal well-being, linked to the more self-determined types of regulation [11,48], various authors [59] find that Masters who begin or resume an activity primarily do so motivated by aspects related to well-being, more than simple sport performance. Additionally, Masters who rekindle their previous swimming careers recognize a change in their initial mentality based on sport performance, due to their interactions with other Masters who have been involved in the activity for longer [21,41,59]. In this sense, the fact that Masters show lower external regulation compared to the other types does not mean they do not value sport performance.…”

“…In previous studies, enjoyment of the activity, besides being the main source of intrinsic motivation, has been identified as the strongest determinant of sport commitment in veteran or Masters athletes [37,61]. In this sense, many authors refer to the commitment of these athletes as "lifelong engagement in sport" [41,42], and this commitment should thus manifest itself equally in the present and in the future. However, this future commitment may be mediated by aspects that are, to a certain extent, beyond the control of the Masters, such as circumstances of family, work, health, etc.…”

“…Adult-oriented sport practices have shown greater commitment, complementarity and coach closeness [40]. Many authors refer to the commitment of these athletes as "lifelong engagement in sport" [41,42]. In this sense, Orlick [43] proposes a model that considers not only current commitment, but adds future commitment measured through an athlete's expectations of their sport.…”