An Assessment of the Involvement of Sports Activities in University Life

Abstract

The objective of this study was to find out the students' sports behaviors and their perceptions during their university times. This study was carried out using 51 randomly selected undergraduate students reading for the Geography special degree at the University of Colombo. The sample size was 37% of the total undergraduates who are reading Geography special degree. An online questionnaire survey was carried out during a one-month period. The data relating to the birthplace of the students, sports activities carried out during the school and university period, the awareness of the sports facilities in the university, reasons for not engaging with the sports activities, prizes and medals received, their knowledge of the importance of sports to the lives were collected using the questionnaire. The students (61%) reading for the Geography special degree were from Galle, Rathnapura, Monaragala, Kaluthara, and Matara districts. The students (33%) were engaged in sports activities during their school time. The most popular sports event during school time is Netball. The students (80%) had good awareness about the sports facilities in the university, and 96% of students were not engaged in any of sports during their university period. The majority (27%) of students emphasized that the distance from the residing place to the university is the main reason for not participating in sports activities. Only 16% of the students followed “Introduction to Sports, Physical Activity and Exercises” as a subject for their degree. All of the students had better knowledge about the importance of sports activity to a person. 7% of them highlighted sports are important to reduce depression. It is concluded that geography specialized students are rarely engaged with university sports activities and none of the students are representing the university at the interuniversity gains.