University Student Athletes’ Perceptions of Sports Scholarships and Sports Participation Within Selected Kenyan Universities in Nairobi City County
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Date
2022
Authors
Araka, Kebaso Onchong’a Nelion
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
In Kenya, it has been noted that the development of education has been geared immensely
by the spirit of sports. However, it is notable that a lot of talents are lost due to constraints
encountered as a result of lack of support and motivation among the Kenyan students’
athletes. The general goal of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of sports
scholarship on athletes’ participation in Kenyan Universities. In order to achieve the
general goal, this study was guided by various specific objectives. These includes
determining the major factors influencing athletes’ participation and analysis of the
perceptions of athletes’ sports participation among university athletes. The study focused
on Kenyan universities within Nairobi City County. A descriptive study design was used
for this study while the study focused on the population of university athletes of handball,
soccer, basketball and volley ball teams in the universities under Kenya Universities
Sports Association. A purposive sampling technique was used to identify the sample of
athletes. This study adopted a sample size of 10% of the total population for the various
strata. Questionnaires were the primary instruments for data collection. Measures of
dispersion were used for statistical analysis such as standard deviation, percentages and
t-test. The study found that some of the major factors that influences participation of the
athletes in diverse sporting activities include skills development, cognitive benefits, health
and physical fitness, need for scholarships, spirit of competition, psychological benefits,
friendship development and stress/tension management. The results showed that only a
few students had benefitted from the scholarships while the majority of the athletes had
not gotten any scholarship opportunity. Similarly, the process of accessing any scholarship
opportunity was quite difficult and just a few athletes would be lucky to get any form of
scholarship. Other factors that were reported to impact the whole process of securing
scholarships among the athletes include proper linkages, exposure, playing environment
and institutional support. The study showed significant relationship between availability
of scholarship opportunities and sports participation. The study recommended that there is
need to conduct further research on factors influencing accessibility of scholarships among
university athletes.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Award of Degree of Master of Science
in Physical Education of Kenyatta University in the School
of Public Health and Applied Human Sciences
Keywords
University, Student, Athletes, Sports, Scholarships, Sports, Kenyan Universities, Nairobi City County