Female participation in recreational sport in Malta

Abstract

Leisure time increased with social, economic and political improvements of the nineteenth century and consequently various theories of leisure emerged. Recreational sport is one important aspect of the leisure of females, offering a multitude of benefits. However women participate in sport to a lesser extent than men because they are hindered by various factors. Physical Education and sport have an important formative influence upon the development of post-secondary school participation in recreational sport. Therefore recreational sport should be included in girls' Physical Education and extra-curricular programme to cater for all the students, irrespective of their motor ability, and thus favour active participation in sport and physical activity in the future life of females. This dissertation aims at finding out whether the present female secondary schools and female teachers are reaching one of the most important aims of Physical Education: that to encourage students to participate actively in recreational sport after school years. Hence, the study on Maltese females concerns the influence that secondary school Physical Education and extra-curricular activities leave on their post-secondary school recreational sport participation. The other study on female physical education teachers shows their contributions to the leisure aim.