The comparative study of barriers of sport participation among athletes and non-athletes’ female teachers in Hamadan, using Crawford hierarchical barriers (case study of female teachers in Hamadan)

The purpose of this study was the comparative study of barriers of sport participation among athletes and non-athletes’ female teachers in Hamadan, using Crawford hierarchical barriers. This was a cross-sectional study design including all female teachers in Hamadan (N =923). The sample was determined using Morgan’s Table (n=230) people were selected using stratified sampling (108 athletes and 122 non-athletes) .Data collection measure was a 40 – item questionnaire with five response options (Cronbach's alpha coefficient of reliability= 0.86). The barriers to sport participation were measured in the three following areas: constraints model (intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural) and six subscales:  1) socio-cultural, 2) financial economics,3) human resources specialist, 4) attitudes of family, 5) equipment and facilities, and 6) advertising and the media were investigated. Dependent variable was the lack of participation in sport activities. Each of the six factors was considered as independent variables. SPSS software was used to run the analysis. To analyze the data one –sample T-test andFriedman test were used.  Results indicated that lack of athletic participation of female teachers was related to economic, social and cultural factors as well as to the attitude of the family. Barriers of sport participation in three domains among athletes and non athletes female teachers were same and respectively 1-structural 2-inter personal 3-intra personal. It seems that it is not possible to extend the Crawford pyramid model to all those people and different conditions in which they live. This prioritization will be different due to the social, economic and cultural societies. Consider to the results of this study, we indicated that in Iran the structural and infrastructural barriers in sport community is necessary and removing the structural barriers in the promotion of sport culture and public health can be a useful step in participation in leisure and recreational activities.