Dropout refers to the discontinuity of sport participation.
Understanding the determinants of sport dropout
is an important issue in sports research, given the physical,
social, and psychological benefits of organized
sports.
In a recent meta-analysis, Crane and Temple (2015)
found that the main factors associated with dropout from
organized sport among children and adolescents are intrapersonal
and interpersonal constraints, such as sport
enjoyment, perceptions of physical and sport competence,
social pressures, competing priorities, and physical factors.
This is in line with assumptions in the Sport
Commitment Model by Scanlan, Carpenter, Simons,
Schmidt, and Keeler (1993). Besides intrapersonal and
interpersonal factors, socio-ecological predictors, such as
age, gender, and parents’ socioeconomic status, are considered
in dropout research (Vella, Cliff, & Okely, 2014).
Dropout of athletes is also linked to the relative age
effect (the over representation of athletes born early in
a selection year) in a variety of organized sports
(Cobley, Baker, Wattie, & McKenna, 2009).
Eventually, athletes born early in a selection year are
more likely to be transferred to top teams or exposed to higher levels of coaching, whereas athletes born later
tend to drop out at a younger age.
Among the general adult population, according to
Bauman, Reis, Sallis, Wells, and Martin (2012), the
clearest correlates of limited sport participation and
dropout include low self-efficacy, poor health status,
personal history of limited physical activity during
adulthood, and low intention to exercise.
