Causes and consequences of dropping out from organized youth sports

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine dropout reasons and various types ofdropouts in relation to demographic variables, various types of sports, physicalactivity, and underlying motivational processes. Retrospective data was collected fromthree cohorts including 1,176 participants, of which 712 stated that they hadsometimes dropped out of organized sport. Findings showed that time-related reasonswere the primary causes for dropping out. It was also revealed that athletes with lowversus high levels of perceived physical competence dropped out to a higher extentbecause of experiencing too much pressure, and athletes reporting low versus highsocial competence withdrew to a higher extent because they did not like theirteammates. Results also showed that girls with a foreign background had a higher rateof dropouts compared to boys with the same background. Girls with foreignbackgrounds were also found to be less physically active after dropping out fromorganized sports