A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PARENTS' INTENTIONS TO ALLOW YOUTH HOCKEY AND YOUTH FOOTBALL PARTICIPATION

Publication Date

4-5-2019

Document Type

Poster

Degree Type

Graduate

Department

Kinesiology & Recreation

Mentor

Michael Mulvaney

Mentor Department

Kinesiology & Recreation

Abstract

Large numbers of youth in the United States participate in hockey and football. Youth hockey and football programs aim to provide children opportunities for physical, social, and educational growth. In terms of physical effort and contact, hockey and football display similar characteristics. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, hockey and football are both categorized as collision sports that involve athletes exerting great force to purposely hit or collide with other athletes and/or inanimate objects. Despite their similarities, youth football participation numbers have shown a nationwide decrease over the past decade while youth ice hockey participation numbers have shown an increase in the United States and Canada over the past decade. The growing concerns over head injuries has been noted as the most prominent reason for the decline in youth football participation numbers as a majority of the research has focused on football athletes. Responding to these trends, the purpose of this study was to examine parents' differing perceptions of risk between youth hockey and youth football participation. Further understanding parents' perceptions of risk and awareness between these two sports can provide a valuable framework to help build intervention tools and improve youth sport programming. A web-based survey was developed and distributed to 550 parents in the Town of Normal. A modified version of Murphy, Askew, and Sumner's (2017) parents' intentions to allow youth sport participation instrument was used to measure the variables of interests. Variables of interest included: intent to play (youth hockey and football), attitudes toward youth sport participation, perception of concussion risk, concussion knowledge, and demographics. T-tests, correlations, and regression analyses yielded significant findings across multiple variables suggesting parents have differing perceptions of risk associated with youth football and hockey participation. Complete findings are presented.

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