Investigating child and adolescent sport dropout from a bio-ecological perspective in Australian swimming: How important is the coaching climate?

Abstract

Child and adolescent sport participation can provide a platform for young people to reach a multitude of developmental benefits, such as improved physical health, as well as psychosocial and motor skill development (Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2007; Coakley, 2006; Camire & Trudel, 2010). In Australia, swimming is a popular sport for children and adolescents. With 1,638,460 males and females (aged 0–14 years) participating in 2022, swimming was ranked the number one participation sport (Australian Sports Commission, 2023). Given the Australian culture and the fact that swimming is considered a leisure activity that does not need to be organised, and does not require formal clubs and associations for participation, it can be expected that swimming registers consistently high participation rates (Eime et al., 2020). Yet, a significant proportion of participants will either temporarily, or permanently, dropout of child and adolescent sport within relatively short timeframes (for example, one year) at younger age groups (Eime et al., 2019).

On the presumption of dropout being a less desirable behavioural outcome, in contrast to sustained participation, the thesis initially highlights the problem of childhood and adolescent sport dropout in general, as well as in the specific context of Australian swimming. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979; 2005) Bio-Ecological Development Theory, and the Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model are utilised to identify the potentially multiple – and potentially interconnected – factors which may account for dropout. From the same perspective, the thesis explores and examines the coach-created motivational climate of Australian youth swimmers, and the impact on participation and dropout rates. The characteristics of more preferred coaching climates are outlined through the application of an intervention study.