Active New Zealand survey (2013/14)

Key Results

Participation in sport and recreation is high

• Almost all (94.2%, over 3 million people) adults took part in one or more sport or recreation activities over 12
  months. This provides an insight into overall participation, which is the basis of much of this report.
• Participation levels decrease as the timeframe shortens (ie, year, month, week) but remain high, with over 7
  out of 10 adults (74.0%, 2.5 million people) taking part over a week.
• Participation levels are high for men and women, people from different ethnic backgrounds, and all but the oldest age group (75 years and over). Participation varies with people’s socio-economic background and where they live.

Participation was higher for those who live in:
– areas of low deprivation (ie, those in more affluent communities), compared with other areas
– large urban areas, compared with other locations.

• Walking is a popular activity and influences overall participation levels.
• When walking is excluded from the participation figures, the proportion of adults who took part in at least one activity is lower across all three timeframes. Excluding walking also shows differences in participation for some groups that are not apparent when walking is included. Across the three timeframes, participation levels were lower:
  – for women than men
  – for most age groups; with differences most marked for those 50 years and over.

Recreational activities are most popular with adults

• Recreational activities (walking, swimming, cycling) and exercising (ie, exercise-based equipment) were the most popular activities adults take part in.
• The sports that feature in the top 10 sports/activities for men were golf and football, while recreational activities and exercising have greater appeal to women. Netball is the most popular sport for women, but ranks 11th and so doesn’t make the top 10.
• Team sports were more popular with young adults (netball, touch rugby and football), Maori (touch rugby and
  netball) and Pacific peoples (touch rugby, netball, volleyball and rugby).

Most adults take part in a number of different sports and recreation activities

• 6 out of 10 (61.1%) adults took part in three or more activities over 12 months.
• The average number of activities was four.
• The averages were lower for:
  – women than men
  – Asian peoples, compared with all adults
  – people who live in areas of high deprivation (ie, those that are less well off), compared with those from other
  socio-economic-backgrounds; those who live in areas of medium deprivation also took part in fewer activities
  than those who live in areas of low deprivation.

Many participants take part in sport and active recreation on three or more days a week

• Almost 7 out of 10 (67.5%) participants took part in at least one activity at least three days a week. Over 3 out of 10 (34.7%) took part in at least one activity on at least five days a week.
• Among participants, women took part more often than men. Women were more likely to take part in at least one activity on five to seven days a week, while men were more likely to take part every two weeks or less.
• Frequency of participation varied for different age groups; the most frequent participants were found among the younger (16 to 24-year-olds) and older age groups (65 years and over).

A lot of sport and active recreation takes part on a casual basis

• Almost all participants (97.7%) took part in at least one activity casually, either on their own or with others.
• Participation was similar across all groups except:
  – participants who live in areas of high deprivation (ie, those that are less well off) were less likely to take part
  casually than those from other socio-economic backgrounds.

Competition is part of some adults’ sporting lives

• Just over 2 out of 10 (22.2%) participants played sport in regular club competitions.
• Fewer participants took part in other types of competition − short-term, organised competitions (8.8%) and a
  one-off or series of events (7.9%).
• Participation in competitions (both regular and short-term) was lower for:
  - women than men
  - older adults (35 years and over) than younger adults (16 to 24-year-olds)
  - Asian peoples, compared with all adults.

Membership of clubs, gyms and recreation centres is common for some participants

• Over 12 months, over 4 out of 10 (44.4%) participants were members of one or more clubs, gyms or recreation centres to take part in their chosen sport and recreation activities.
• Sport/physical activity club membership was most popular (27.4%), followed by belonging to a gym or fitness
  centre (19.3%), or a community leisure or recreation centre (7.1%).
• Membership of sport/physical activity clubs was lower for:
  - women than men
  - adults 25 years and over, compared with the youngest adults (16 to 24-year-olds)
  - Asian participants, compared with all participants.

People enjoy a lot of sports/activities that are free. Pay-to-play is the most common way people pay to take part

• Almost all participants (92.4%) took part in one or more activities without paying, ie, they were free to do.
• The most common way people paid to take part was paid per visit, entry or hire, with over 3 out of 10 (35.2%)
  people paying to take part in one or more of their chosen sports/activities in this way.
• 2 out of 10 (20.9%) people paid for a membership of a sport or physical activity club, while just under 2 out of 10 (17.8%) were members of gyms and recreation centres.
• Women were more likely than men to do an activity without paying and to pay by concession card.
• Men were more likely to pay per visit and by way of membership. Those aged 16 to 49 years of age were also more likely than older adults to pay in these ways.
• Participants living in areas of low deprivation (ie, those in more affluent communities) were more likely than those living in areas of high deprivation to pay per visit, by way of membership and to do an activity without paying.

Skill development provided by instructors/coaches and/or instructional resources is also common among participants

• Over 12 months, just over 4 out of 10 (42.4%) participants received instruction or coaching to help improve
  their “performance” in their chosen activities.
• Just over 3 out of 10 (31.1%) used instructional resources (tapes, books, video, web instruction) to assist
  skill development.
• Young adults (16 to 24-year-olds) were most likely to use both instructors/coaches and resources to improve
  their “performance”.

A wide range of locations are venues and places for sport and recreation

• Almost all participants (91.3%) took part in sport and active recreation at least one man-made facility. The most popular facilities were a path, cycleway or walkway in a town or city (53.1%); their home or someone else’s home (35.9%) and an outdoor sports facility like a netball court, golf course or ski field (30.7%).
• The majority of participants (80.1%) also took part in their chosen sports/activities in one or more natural settings.The most popular were a park in a town or city (50.3%), a beach or by the sea (35.9%) and in or on the sea (28.8%).

Most participants take part for “fitness and health” and enjoyment

• For the large majority of participants, “health and fitness” (90.7%) and enjoyment (87.9%) were their main reasons for taking part in their chosen sports/activities.
• Other common reasons included social reasons (52.9%), low cost (44.5%), convenience (43.5%) and sport
  performance (31.1%).
• Reasons varied in importance for some groups, and most notably between men and women:
  - men were more likely to say they took part in activities for enjoyment, social reasons and sport performance
  - women were more likely to say they took part in activities for fitness and health, low cost and convenience.

Events are a feature of some adults’ sporting lives

• Over 12 months, just under 2 out of 10 (17.0%) adults took part in one or more events. The most popular were fun runs and walking events (8.1%), followed by other running/walking events, such as marathons and 10km races (4.0%).
• Participation in events was lower for:
  - women than men
  - those 50 years and over, compared with younger adults (16 to 49-year-olds)
  - Asian peoples, compared with all adults
  - those who live in areas of high deprivation (ie, those that are less well off) than from other socio-economic
  backgrounds.

Interest in taking part in more sport and recreation is high

• Most adults (both participants and non-participants, 65.6%) were interested in either trying a new sport/activity or doing more of an existing one.
• Interest was highest among:
  - young and mid-aged adults (16 to 49-year-olds)
  - Asian peoples, compared with all adults.
• Among participants, interest was higher in trying a new sport or recreation activity (47.4%) than in doing more of an existing one (43.8%).
• Interest was wide-ranging and participants mentioned over:
  – 100 new/different activities and 70 existing ones that they’d like to do more of (and so the numbers mentioning each activity were small).
• Recreation activities attracted more interest overall than sports.
• Activities participants were most interested in trying were swimming, cycling, tennis, Pilates/yoga, golf, dance and snow sports:
  – men were most interested in cycling, golf, swimming and snow sports
  – women were most interested in swimming, Pilates/yoga, tennis, cycling, netball and dance.
• Activities participants were most interested in doing more of were walking, fishing, swimming, cycling, golf and
  running/jogging:
  – men were most interested in doing more fishing, walking, cycling, golf, swimming and canoeing/kayaking
  – women were most interested in doing more walking, swimming, cycling, gardening and jogging/running.

Lack of time and cost are the two main barriers to participation

• Lack of time was the main barrier preventing participants doing more sport and recreation, ahead of the barrier
  of cost.
• Looking at barriers to both trying a new activity and doing more of an existing one, lack of time was more likely to be a barrier for:
  - those aged 25 to 49 years, compared with other age groups
  - Asian participants, compared with all participants.

There is a large base of sport and recreation volunteers

• Just under 3 out of 10 (28.6%) adults (around 949,000) were sport and recreation volunteers.
• Men and women were as likely to be volunteers, although men were more likely to be coaches and women parent helpers.
• Volunteering in at least one role was higher for:
  - those aged 35 to 49 years, compared with most other age groups
  - Pacific peoples compared with all adults
  - adults living in areas of low deprivation (ie, those in more affluent communities) than for those living in areas
  of high deprivation.
• Being a coach/instructor or parent helper were the two most common volunteer roles, followed by officiating and administration roles.
• Among parent helpers, providing transport and refreshments were the main tasks they did.

Since 2007/08 there has been a small growth in participation in sport and active recreation and a more substantial
growth in volunteering

• Weekly participation grew by just over 1 percentage point in the years between 2007/08 and 2013/14, from 72.6% to 74.0%.
• Results show a slight increase in participation for men and women but the increase was slightly higher for women (up 2 percentage points, compared with a 1-percentage point increase for men).
• Groups with notable increases in participation were:
  – people in the mid-age group (35 to 49-year-olds), Pacific peoples and people in one of the mid-income groups.
• Groups with notable decreases in participation were:
  – young adults (16 to 24-year-olds), Ma-ori and people in the lowest income group.
• Involvement in volunteering (over 12 months) grew by almost 3 percentage points, from 24.9% to 27.7%.
• Groups with notable increases in volunteering were:
  – men, people in the older age groups (aged 50 and over), Pacific and Asian peoples and people in the highest
  income group.
• The group with a notable decrease in volunteering was:
  – people in one of the younger age groups (25 to 34-year-olds).

Overall club or centre membership has remained stable between 2007/08 and 2013/14, however there has been growth in gym membership and decline in sports club membership

• Comparing overall club membership (ie, membership of at least one club, centre or gym over 4 weeks) in 2007/08 and 2013/14 shows that there has been no change, however:
  – sports club membership decreased by 2 percentage points
  – in contrast, gym membership increased by 3 percentage points.

Participation levels in many sports and activities have changed between 2007/08 and 2013/14, however the top 20
lists of most popular activities remain similar

• The sport and recreation activities that made up the top 20s in both survey years were similar (although the
  ranking of sports/activities varied).
• Sports/activities with increases in participation were:
  – cycling, jogging/running, fishing, Pilates/yoga, tramping, aerobics, canoeing/kayaking and hunting.
• Sports/activities with decreases in participation were:
  – walking, swimming, equipment-based exercise, dance, golf, tennis, football, touch rugby, cricket and basketball.
• Both men’s and women’s participation in the following activities increased:
  – cycling, jogging/running and fishing.
• Both men’s and women’s participation in the following activities decreased:
  – walking, swimming and equipment-based exercise.