Increasing sports participation in Scotland: are voluntary sports clubs the answer?

A policy objective of the Scottish government is to increase sports participation
as a means of increasing health and social inclusion. This paper assesses the
potential contribution of sports clubs run by their members to these objectives
through an analysis of the Scottish Opinion Survey results. These identify the
percentage of sports participation that occurs in clubs; by sport, gender,
deprivation level, and local authority. It also examines how volunteering in
sport varies by these dimensions. This shows that participation in clubs is more
important for particular sports. It is highest in the least deprived areas, highest
for male participants, and for those over 55 years old, and varies considerably
across local authorities. This leads to a discussion of the implications for sports
policy. Three aspects are considered; the geographical dimension,
demographics and target populations, and the nature of voluntary sports clubs.
The differences across local authorities show that local policies are required.
However, all of these require a more subtle understanding of the relationship
between participation and club membership.