Influence of sports facilities and programs on sports participation at Saudi Universities

Abstract

Participation in physical activity without doubt has many benefits especially to students at all levels. It is however worrisome to note that this participation by a number of factors including availability of sport facilities and sport programs. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role or influence of sport facilities and programme on the participation in physical activity among the students in Saudi Arabia. In order to do this, the study adopted a descriptive approach with data collected with the aid of an adapted questionnaire administered on 643 undergraduate students who were randomly selected from 25 universities in Saudi Arabia. The data collected were analysed using Smart PLS software. It was revealed that there were inadequate sport facilities in the universities and this greatly affected students’ sports participation at Saudi Arabia universities. In addition, findings revealed that (non)availability of sports programs had effects on the students’ sports participation at Saudi Arabia universities. Therefore, these results showed that sports facilities provided by the universities could positively encourage students to use these facilities and participate in sports activities and that the sports programs provided by the universities had significant effect on students’ participation. The study thus concluded that in order to increase the participation level of students, universities should offer them different types of programs, workshops and training, which enable them to discover their skills and participate in the sports that they believe they can enjoy the most with their colleagues. There should also be adequate provision of sport facilities for the use of the students. It is believed that through these, the students and the country will drive the maximum benefits of sports and sport participation.