Abstract:

The aim of this study was to determine the motivation of children to participate in sports and to examine whether the motivation to participate in sports differs according to gender and branch. The research group consisted of 521 children, 161 (30.9%) girls and 360 boys (69.1%), who attended the sports schools run by Başakşehir Municipality in different sports branches in 2021. The ages of the participants ranged between 8-15 years and the mean age was 12.04 ± 2.36 years. Personal Information Form and Sports Participation Motivation Scale were used as data collection tools in the research. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods and Mann Whitney U test. In line with the research findings, the highest average among children's motivation to participate in sports was skill development (mean=1.14) and team membership (mean=1.16), and the lowest average was friendship (mean=1.33) and competition (mean). mean=1.30) sub-dimensions were determined. According to the branch types; In the sub-dimensions of team membership (0.002; p<.05), physical fitness (0.003; p<.05) and competition (0.035; p<.05) significant differences were found in favor of those who did team sports, but no significant difference was found in other sub-dimensions (p>.05). Considering the gender variable, a significant difference was found in favor of men in the sub-dimension of team membership (0.004; p<.05) and in favor of women in the sub-dimension of fun (0.029; p<.05).

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