LEISURE TIME ACTIVITIES OF TOP-LEVEL SOCCER PLAYERS' IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE

The main purpose of this study was to examine the leisure time activities of top-level soccer players (N = 182) in childhood and adolescence, as well as to explore the latent factor structure of the variables used. There is evidence that a certain lifestyle in leisure time reveals specific aspects o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inKinesiologia slovenica Vol. 23; no. 1; p. 42
Main Authors Križaj, Jožef, Topič, Mojca Doupona
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ljubljana University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sport 01.01.2017
Subjects
Child development
Cultural capital
Habitus
Leisure
Lifestyles
Professional football
Soccer
Social classes
Sociology
Teenagers
Tourism
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Summary:The main purpose of this study was to examine the leisure time activities of top-level soccer players (N = 182) in childhood and adolescence, as well as to explore the latent factor structure of the variables used. There is evidence that a certain lifestyle in leisure time reveals specific aspects of a particular subculture (Bourdieu, 2002; Hradil, 2005). The members of subcultural groups (in our case: soccer players), who are living in a special social environment, have their own specific behavioral traits in their leisure time. With a sample of 182 active and former top-level soccer players, we attempted to explore these leisure time activities by using a modified questionnaire in connection with different leisure time theory approaches (Schulze, 1992; Elkington & Stebbins, 2014). The respondents replied to 21 questions, composed of a five-level Likert scale, which accounted for typical leisure time activities. The results of descriptive statistics show that the soccer players were strongly focused on activities in connection with soccer during their leisure time in childhood and adolescence. By applying factor analysis, we examined the composition of the latent factor structure of the items used. Six factors accounted for 54.22% of the total model variance before extraction (Principal Axis Factoring) and rotation (Varimax) and for 37.07% of the total model variance after extraction and rotation. The internal consistency of the hypothetical leisure time model was verified using Cronbach's alpha (a = 0.78). Based on the obtained factors, we found specific activities of soccer players in leisure time. In childhood and adolescence, soccer players were mainly focused on soccer and career development, as well as on casual leisure activities like listening to music, watching TV and videos, and reading magazines, newspapers, etc.
ISSN:1318-2269
2232-4062