Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College A CAPSTONE PROJECT Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College By: Brian Shannon

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College A Capping Project that: Combines both sports interviewing and reporting backed by quantitative and qualitative research findings 2. Is a project aimed to help improve the “business” side of intramural sports, that is, what can be learned from this study that will help the intramural department increase participation and improve the overall experience of female students 3. Promotes sports and Marist Athletics across the student body

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Reasons Behind the Project It has been reported that the level of women’s participation in intramural sports is decreasing, yet the the performance of American world class women athletes has never been more impressive as evidenced by the last Summer Olympics, and a recent NCAA news release reports that participation for both male and female student-athletes are at an all-time high.   It was the right time to see for myself what the state of affairs are at Marist College with regard to the level of participation by women in intramurals and club sports and how women keep physically fit.

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Methodology - Created a questionnaire to collect data and information   - Collected a total of of 100 in-person and online responses to the questionnaire - Videotaped 20 interviews to gain experience in sports interviewing and reporting - Created a spreadsheet to gather and analyze the data - Updated my blog regularly which included some videotaped interviews

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Methodology (cont.) - Created a Table of Demographic Data of the respondents to the questionnaire   - Prepared a Recommendation Report for use for by Intramurals & Club Sports at Marist - Created a Twitter account to create awareness and provide updates of my blog - Used my own Facebook page to spread the word about the project - Created and had published a Marist Athletics Trivia Crossword Puzzle in The Circle to promote Marist Athletics. Winners won Marist Athletic hooded sweatshirts.

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Background I was struck by some statistics that I came across: Men participate at a 70% level in intramurals while only 30% of women are involved At some colleges the difference is as high as 90% for men versus 10% for women - Marist College reports 4,536 undergraduates – 58% of which are female = 2,630   - 11 club teams and 1,600 students participating in intramurals (www.Marist.edu/about) - “About 65% of the student population participates with our numbers increasing each of the last three years.” (www.Marist.edu/athletics website) (# would be 2,948 undergrads) Assumption That the level of involvement among women at Marist College is higher than what was reported in other colleges

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Limitations and Extrapolation There is no way to get an accurate number on the actual number of female participants or the percentage of female undergraduates that participate in intramurals and club sports at Marist College* From my survey sample, I can extrapolate the percentage of women who are participating in intramurals and club sports at Marist   *Kristy Nix, Coordinator of Intramurals and Club Sports, says, “As far as the number of women who participate, we do not have a way to calculate the number. There is a new system in place now that can keep track of the number of people who participate.” (Email exchange on Sept. 17, 2012)

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Explanation of Groups Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 refer to the group that each participant is placed in: Group 1 - participated in high school sports only Group 2 - participates in sports at Marist but did not participate in high school sports Group 3 - participated in high school sports AND in sports at Marist Group 4 - only uses the McCann Center for wellness and to stay physically fit Group 5 - no sports and does not workout Group 6 - varsity athletes   Table 1 – Demographic Data (click on Table 1 in the Appendix)

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Percentage Group 1 – 46 Group 2 – 9 Group 3 – 21* Group 4 – 14 Group 5 – 1 Group 6 – 9 Percentage of Respondents by Group   Percentage *Group 3 has 30 but 9 have to be backed out since they are varsity athletes

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Quantitative Results 30% of woman participate in intramurals or club sports at Marist College 39% are involved in sports overall, including varsity teams 21% participated in high school and do so in college - 9% joined a team or decided to play sports since entering Marist College   By extrapolating the data, approximately 789 undergraduate females play intramurals and/or club sports at Marist* 46% of women who were involved in sports in high school do not participate in college An astonishing 99% of women responded that they workout and/or use the McCann Center facilities *Based on this number, it would mean that 2,159 men would have to participate in intramurals and/or club sports if 65% of the student population participates

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Reasons Why Women are Involved in Intramurals or Club Sports* Qualitative Results 23 19 14 15 1 *Respondents were able to give more than one reason

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Reasons Why Women do not Participate in Sports at Marist College* 5 1 3 1 5 5 6 6 3 6 6 33 3 5 1 33 3 *Respondents were able to give more than one answer. Not everyone gave a reason why. 1

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Qualitative Results For the question, “What  is  missing  for  you…..,” there were some very interesting comments: - “There needs to be better advertising, promotion and awareness and make it easier to sign up.”   - “It needs to be better organized/more detailed information on sports offered.” - “There needs to be better facilities/more room/more machines.” - “It is too competitive.” - “My friends don’t play so neither do I.” - “ Time.” - “I feel if I did not play as a freshman it is now too late.”

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College What is missing for you that you don’t participate?* # of Comments 12 17 9 3 4 2 1 1 1 *Respondents were able to give more than one answer. Not everyone gave a reason why.

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Asked what sports are missing that if there you might think about playing? Screen Shot from Intramurals Site Answers: (and number of times) Club volleyball (3) Intramural tennis Wrestling Martial Arts Shuffleboard Field hockey Kickboxing (2) Club lacrosse Club swim team (3) Club soccer Gymnastics Intramural lacrosse (2) Intramural track Softball Tumbling Intramural swimming Golf The screen shot is there to show that golf, lacrosse, running, and tennis exist – so the question is, “How effective is the communication and information and how is that information and the sport being made available to female students?”

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Summary - Based on my research findings, the level of participation by women in intramurals and club sports at Marist College is exactly the same percentage as the number reported in the article I read – 30%. My assumption was incorrect since I thought the number would be higher.   The #1 reason why females participate is Social Reasons followed by to Stay Physically Fit - The #1 reason women do not participate at Marist College is due to lack of Time

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Summary (cont.) An overwhelming majority of women at Marist workout to stay healthy and physically fit, but there is a concern about the facilities and lack of machines to use   - What is missing? Intramurals clearly needs better advertising and awareness in terms of when/where the sports are played, how to sign up, where to sign up, etc. My early research highlighted the need for a better, more comprehensive intramurals website, hosted by Marist, that is easy to find and use, i.e., register, schedule of games, locations, etc.

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College A Few Wise and Practical Statements / Takeaways   “I play intramural sports at Marist because it is fun, allows you to meet new people, and if taken seriously, allows you to stay fit.” “There should be an all-girls soccer intramurals league. Many girls are intimidated playing against boys.” “For a female, if you want to play intramurals, it is there, but you have to find it yourself. It is not going to present itself to you.”

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Pros & Cons……Lessons Learned Pros – It was a capping project was that is was multidisciplinary in nature in that it incorporated primary and secondary research, sports communication, both reporting and the business side, audio/visual, social media, and a consultative recommendation report for a department within Marist Athletics   This was an ambitious undertaking with many moving parts. I had to get approvals from Student Services for on-campus interviews, Marist Athletics to do a sports trivia crossword puzzle, The Circle to get the puzzle and article published in the school paper, and agreement from Marist Athletics to sponsor the contest. Good project management skills had to be utilized to successfully compete the project.

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Pros & Cons……Lessons Learned (cont.) Cons – interviewing students is not as easy as it looks. Many were always on the run or “late for class,” but I was able to get 100 responses overall to the questionnaire.   My interviews could have been more interactive with the people I interviewed….more sports reporting oriented. - Attracting followers on Twitter does not come easily or quickly. Fortunately, my project was published in the school newspaper and the number of hits on my blog reflects that is created some awareness.

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Future Work that Remains A “sports reporting” summary video presentation will be posted on my blog   I plan to submit to Kristy Nix in Marist College Intramurals & Club Sports my Recommendation Report. I believe there is some pragmatic and worthwhile advice in the report which was discovered as a result of this Capping Project. Perhaps next semester we can set up a meeting to discuss the recommendations further.

Women in Intramurals and Club Sports at Marist College Recommendation Report