Young Malaysians' participation in tennis: motives and constraints / Kwame Ampofo-Boateng, Sarina Md. Yusof and Mohamad Rahizam Abd Rahim

Sports is important in both developed (Gill, 2000) and developing countries (Leeder, 2004) including Malaysia (Siti Sa'aidah, 1997). Apart from producing international calibre athletes, participation in sports leads to improve health and reduce the healthcare cost of a nation (Ampofo-Boateng, Mustafa & Vincent, 2003). The current study extends this line of research by examining the motives and constraints that govern young Malaysian's participation in tennis. Aims. The aims of the present research were two-fold: (a) to investigate the motives and their attendant demographic variables that affect young Malaysians' participation in tennis; and (b) to examine the constraints and their accompanying demographic variables that influence young Malaysians' participation in tennis. Sample. Young Malaysian tennis players aged 8 to 17 years participated in the study. They were recruited for the study by means of convenient sampling from among young Malaysian tennis players who participated in tennis tournaments in Malaysia. Three hundred young tennis players comprising of 202 males and 98 females participated in the study.