SPARC Facts 1997-2001

Club membership¹³

Around a third of New Zealand adults (36%) who have participated in a sport or physical activity in the last four weeks are currently active members of a club or gym. Men are more likely to be club members than women (41% and 31% respectively). Other people participate more informally – at local recreation centres and parks, or at home – or “pay-as-they-play” for a casual round of golf or a swim in the local pool.

Around one in five adults (21%) belong to a sports club, although the figure for men (27%) is almost twice that for women (16%). Young adults (18-24 year olds) are more likely to be sports club members than people over 50 years (28% compared to between 19% and 22%).

One in 10 adults belong to a gym/fitness club and 6% belong to a social club. 5% of adults identified that they belong to some other type of club.

Most club members belong to one club (67%), but around a third (33%) are members of two or more clubs (10% of these club members belong to three or more clubs).

Younger adults are not only more likely to belong to clubs than older people (this is true for both men and women); they also belong to more clubs. Around two out of 10 club members aged 18-24 years (19%) belong to three or more clubs, while one in 12 club members over the age of 25 years (8%) belong to this number of clubs.

Around four out of 10 Māori (40%), and similar proportions of European (36%) and Pacific (35%) adults belong to clubs. People from other ethnic groups are less likely to be club members – only 24% of this group join a club to participate in a sport or active leisure activity.

Māori and Pacific men are more likely to belong to a club to play a sport or participate in a physical activity than their respective counterparts from all other ethnic groups. Māori (34%) and European (32%) women are also more likely to be members of a club to play a sport or take part in active leisure than Pacific women or women from other ethnic groups in particular (27% and 17% respectively).

Rates of club membership vary for individual sports and activities. They are generally higher for team sports, such as rugby union (5%), netball (7%), and touch rugby (6%), and for activities like golf (14%), aerobics (8%), going to the gym (25%) and bowls (5%), that require specialist facilities or equipment, or instruction.

Coaching

Just over two out of 10 adults (23%) currently receive some coaching or instruction for at least one of their chosen sports or activities. The extent to which men and women get coaching or instruction is very similar, but there is considerable variation across the age groups, with 18-24-year-olds (41%) more likely to get coaching than other adults.

Māori and Pacific adults are more likely (31% and 28% respectively) to receive some coaching or instruction for at least one of their chosen sports or physical activities than European adults and adults from other ethnic groups (22% and 17% respectively).

Organised competition

Around a quarter of New Zealand adults (26%) take part in at least one sport or active leisure competition in a year. Men are more likely than women (35% and 17% respectively), and young adults aged 18-24 years (38%) are more likely than adults over 25 years, to take part in competition. It is also more popular with Pacific and Māori adults when compared to European adults and those from other ethnic groups, as the following table shows.

Taking part in coaching, competition and as a club member

Taking part in coaching, competition and as a club member by gender and by age

Note: The figures show the percentage of adults who belong to at least one club, receive some coaching or instruction and take part in at least one organised competition, for at least one of their chosen sports or activities. People were asked if they had been a member of a club in the “last 4 weeks” and if they had received coaching or taken part in competitions “in the last 12 months”.

Taking part in coaching, competition and as a club member by gender and ethnic group

Income and education

Adults with or without secondary education are less likely to be a club member to play a sport or active leisure activity than those with a tertiary, technical/trade/professional or other education.

Those with a tertiary education or a technical/trade or professional training are more likely to participate in a sport or active leisure organised competition, and those with a tertiary education are more likely to have received coaching for a sport or active leisure activity they participate in.

Adults who live in households with a higher available income are more likely than the lower-income households to be members of a club to play a sport or active leisure activity, to take part in a sport or active leisure organised competition and to have received coaching for a sport or active leisure activity they participate in.

Taking part in coaching, competition & as a club member by adults with different levels of education & household income