P.E 5

• Sociocultural factors affecting participation

  • Participation
  • Attitudes
  • Role models
  • Accessibility (to facilities/clubs/activities)
  • Media coverage
  • Sexism/stereotyping
  • Culture/religion/religious festivals
  • Family commitments
  • Available leisure time
  • Familiarity
  • Education
  • Socio-economic factors/disposable income
  • Adaptability/inclusiveness
• Young children


  • Need to develop gross motor skills from an early age to become confident movers. Those that do so tend to participate to a greater degree.
• Adolescents


  • Experience a growth spurt that changes their physical development. This affects how they acquire skills and how they feel, ie confidence, self-esteem and body image; it also influences the type of activity they may participate in, as intensive strength training is not recommended while bodies are still growing as it can damage the growth plate on the bone ends.
• Young people's participation


  1. High during curriculum time as physical education (PE) is compulsory

  2. Lower for extracurricular sport

  3. Drops dramatically beyond school – out of school hours and when young people leave school

  4. Overall, young people's participation decreases from age 13
• Young people also want to take part in a greater variety of sports and physical activities than in the past. This includes more fitness activities, individual activities and non-traditional games.
• Age


  Participation in sports tends to decrease with age
• Older people


  • May experience decreasing flexibility, strength and general fitness and find it harder to recover from injury. This affects their choice of activity and gentler, lower impact sports such as golf, bowls and cycling are popular with the older age group.
• In the UK, 1.9 million fewer women than men take part in sport each week. There is a significant drop in girls' participation from age 11. By age 14, boys are twice as active as girls.
• Reasons why some women rarely participate in sport and physical activity

  • Discrimination - others/males/media devalue female sport and activity
  • Low self-esteem - awareness of image, lack of confidence, embarrassment
  • Lack of role models - few female role models for this age group
  • Lack of encouragement - from family, schools, peers
  • Friends/peer inactivity - others do not participate, devalue activity
  • Lack of opportunity - few activities for women/women only activities
  • School PE negative influences - poor experiences, narrow opportunities in schools
  • Other interests - competing with other activities, pressures from other interests
  • Lack of media coverage of female sport/activities
  • Childcare issues/family commitments - looking after young children
  • Religion/culture
• Participation in sport was once considered unsuitable and inappropriate for women, but these traditional arguments are now disregarded and women play most sports. Women are considered to be better than men at some ultra-endurance events and the gap between men's and women's achievements is closing fast.
• Disabled people


  • The participation of disabled people in sport is significantly lower than that of non-disabled people, for all age groups.
• Barriers to participation for disabled people

  • Physical barriers – many sports/activities need to be adapted in some way to allow disabled participation
  • Access – special doors and ramps often needed
  • Transport – may be difficult; specialised transport and carers often needed
  • Communication – needs to be appropriate from coaches/other participants, for example, sign language or digital amplification equipment
  • Psychological – lack of confidence, unsure of ability
  • Discrimination/negative attitudes – facilities, clubs or organisers not planning or providing for disabled participants
  • Opportunity – appropriate sports or sessions need to be local and available
  • Awareness – disabled people may not be aware of organisations/facilities catering for their needs
• Many sports and physical activities do ensure inclusion of disabled people. Inclusion requires staff and volunteers to have a positive attitude, communicate effectively and be able to adapt activities.
• Over half of people in black and minority ethnic (BME) communities do no sport or physical activity.
• On average, all BME groups have lower participation rates than the national average.
• Reasons for lower participation rates in BME communities

  • Lack of BME role models involved in leading and organising sport
  • Racism and discrimination
  • Stereotyping
  • Lack of disposable income
• In some communities, the factors of ethnicity and gender combine to have an even greater effect on participation. For example, 92% of South Asian women do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity compared to 55% of all women.
• Disposable income


  Money remaining after taxes and other compulsory charges have been deducted. It is the money left over to be spent on whatever the person needs or wants.
• Some social groups have more disposable income which allows them to participate in sports and activities that are more expensive. Equestrian sports need horses, costly equipment and specialised transport. Skiing is often done abroad and so requires travel and accommodation costs. Many golf clubs charge a large membership fee.
• Ways schools influence participation

  • Physical development of motor skills and specific techniques
  • Guidance on health and fitness
  • Introduction to and experience of a wide range of activities
  • Experience of good leadership
  • Develop positive attitude
  • Provision of role models
  • Regular participation through curriculum PE
  • Opportunities for qualifications - academic (GCSE), vocational (NVQ), leadership (YST sports leaders) and coaching certificates
  • Opportunities through extracurricular activities (including links with local sports clubs and recommending students for higher representation or national player pathways)
• Greater availability of further education and higher education also improves opportunities for continuing sports participation.
• Reasons for using performance enhancing drugs

  • Longer careers and better employment options
  • Increases performance – make links to specific drugs
  • Pressure to perform – keep up with competition / marginal gains
  • Income depends on success, greater success = greater income
  • Everyone is doing it, if you don't someone else will, level playing field, team success
  • Extrinsic rewards – fame, world records, medals, sponsorship
  • Won't get caught – drug testers don't have funding and resources to keep up with drug developers
• Reasons for not using performance enhancing drugs

  • Cheating – immoral, against sportsmanship, against contract to compete – etiquette / sportsmanship
  • Getting caught – shame on sport and family, testing is more accurate and regular = 2 year ban
  • Damage reputation of self and sport – affect sponsorship and earning potential
  • Ruins credibility of sport – cycling and athletics. Fans become cynical, stop attending, affecting commercial sales at events, lowers sponsorship opportunities and therefore money available for the sport
• Negative impacts of performance enhancing drugs on a sport

  • Reputation of the sport is damaged
  • Successful performers may be suspected of cheating giving the sport of athletics a negative image
  • Could lose income due to loss of sponsorship
  • Reduced numbers of spectators wanting to attend athletics events
  • Participation levels may fall as people think it is impossible to achieve without taking drugs or doping
  • The sport has to invest more and more money into drug testing, rather than helping elite or grass-roots athletes, therefore standards can drop
  • Loss of trust in results – results lose reliability
  • Need to re-visit previous scores / results / records and re-distribute titles and medals
  • 'Honest' athletes are tarred with the same brush and lose credibility
  • 'Honest' athletes lose opportunities through no doing of their own
• Types of performance enhancing drugs

  • Stimulants
  • Peptide Hormones (EPO)
  • Narcotic Analgesics
  • Anabolic Steroids
  • Blood Doping
  • Beta Blockers
  • Diuretics
• Reasons for using each type of performance enhancing drug

  • Stimulants - Increase alertness, reduce reaction time, reduce tiredness, increase aggressiveness
  • Peptide Hormones (EPO) - Increased number of red blood cells which increases the ability of an athletes blood to transport O2 to the cells that produce energy
  • Narcotic Analgesics - Allows the athlete to continue training/competing through injury
  • Anabolic Steroids - Athlete take these to build up body weight, to increase the size of their muscles and therefore their strength. They make you more aggressive and competitive
  • Blood Doping - Increased number of red blood cells which increases the ability of an athletes blood to transport O2 to the cells that produce energy. This additional O2 reduces fatigue in the muscles which is most beneficial for
  • Beta Blockers - Reduce heart rate, muscle tension and blood pressure. This improves fine motor control and increases precision skills
  • Diuretics - Lose weight rapidly and dilute the presence of illegal substances and aid their removal from the body in urine
• Types of sponsorship


  • Individuals
  • Teams and clubs
  • Sports
  • Events
• Benefits of sponsorship for sport

  • Individuals - covers costs such as kit, equipment, travel, accommodation, competition fees, time to train
  • Teams and clubs - subsidise kit, equipment, grounds or clubhouse maintenance
  • Sports - pays for coaching and coach development, beginner programmes, talent development
  • Events - covers venue hire, catering, hospitality, publicity, programmes, officials' costs
• Disadvantages of sponsorship for sport

  • Sponsorship can be limited or easily withdrawn – no security
  • A performer can become reliant on a particular sponsor, which could then pull out
  • Some sponsorship (for example, alcohol) gives a bad image to sport
  • Generous sponsorship is only available to the elite few
  • Performers, teams and events can be manipulated or exploited to suit the sponsor
  • Difficulty of minority sports or those with little media coverage to attract sponsorship
• Benefits of sponsorship for the sponsor

  • Raises awareness of their company or brand
  • Advertises products and services
  • Promotes a positive and healthy image of their company by linking it with a popular activity, even if the product is not particularly healthy
  • Improves company's reputation in the UK because the company is supporting British sport
  • Provides rewards or incentives for staff and customers
  • Increases sales or revenue through increased media exposure
  • Reduces tax through tax relief
• Disadvantages of sponsorship for the sponsor

  • Uncertain investment – sporting success is not guaranteed
  • If the event is disrupted, media exposure and advertising potential are lost
  • If the sport or performers cause bad publicity, this reflects badly on the sponsor
• Sponsorship of sport creates tensions when a sponsor's image or product appears to undermine the sporting message. For example, tobacco firms sponsored sporting events until 2005 when they were banned from doing so across the European Union (EU). Companies that sell alcohol are allowed to sponsor sport although many British MPs want a ban as they believe it sends the message that sporting performance and drinking alcohol are linked. The same is true of fast-food companies – should they sponsor sport when their products are believed to contribute to childhood obesity.
• Types of media


  • Television
  • Radio
  • Press
  • Films
  • Internet
  • Social media
• Positive influences of the media

  • Raise awareness of sport
  • Promote healthy active lifestyles
  • Showcase sport's positive values
  • Present positive and inspiring role models
  • Motivate people to take part
  • Set high standards for performance
  • Provide examples of skills and tactics
• Negative influences of the media

  • Intrude on performers' privacy
  • Undermine people's confidence and careers
  • Showcase negative values and behaviour
  • Undermine officials and their decisions
  • Dictate event schedules and availability
  • Alter competition rules and traditions
  • Edit coverage so it is incomplete or biased
• Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)


  Drugs used by athletes to illegally improve their performance
• The use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) is currently one of the biggest issues in modern sport
• Athletes who have used PEDs

  • Lance Armstrong
  • Justin Gatlin
• Athletes who use illegal PEDs have damaged the reputation and credibility of their respective sports
• Reasons why an athlete may use performance enhancing drugs

  • Increased chance of winning
  • To become famous
  • To become wealthy
  • Because everyone else is doing it