Women Students’ (Trans Included) Perceptions of the Women’s Only (Trans Welcome) Intramural Leagues
Creators: name: Kim, Jason Kyoungjin
name: Kindhra, Neha
name: Graham, Trinity
name: Sangha, Nanaki
name: Pohang, Isabella
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2024

description: This research project conducted an in-depth exploration of the dynamics surrounding intramural sports participation at the University of British Columbia (UBC), with a special focus on the Women's Only (Trans Welcome) Intramural Leagues. The primary objective was to dissect the motivations, obstacles, perceptions, and experiences of individuals regarding these leagues, in hopes of providing recommendations to UBC Recreation for increasing the participation of their Women’s Only (Trans Welcome) Intramural Leagues. Through a mixed methods research approach, key insights were gathered from participants regarding their participation in UBC’s intramural sports leagues. This study utilized a Qualtrics survey to explore the engagement of women UBC students in intramural sports, focusing on aspects such as awareness, motivations, inclusivity, and impact. The survey combined closed and open-ended questions across categories including participation, experience, and campus perceptions to gain insights into factors influencing participation and how to enhance inclusivity. Strategies for promotion included leveraging social media to ensure a wide response range. The study aimed to receive 80-100 responses to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics affecting participation in intramural sports amongst the target demographic, and ultimately received 96 responses that were eligible for further analysis. The results of the study identified motivators for participating in all intramural sports teams were personal interest and enjoyment in the sport, practical considerations such as time constraints, cost, and accessibility, and social factors including the presence of friends and camaraderie. Participants underscored the pivotal role of personal passion, social support networks, and the flexibility of scheduling and sport options in shaping their participation choices for each type of recreational intramural league at UBC. Specific to the Women’s Only (Trans Welcome) Intramural League, participants stated prominent barriers such as their desired activity not being offered in that league as well as lacking in women friends that wanted to join the intramural leagues with them. Furthermore, participants highlighted the empowering nature of the Women's Only (Trans Welcome) Intramural Leagues, expressing feelings of belonging within a supportive community of like-minded individuals. The leagues were seen as supporting women's and transgender individuals’ engagement in physical activity and sports, regardless of whether the participant has participated in the league or not. On the other hand, a few concerns and misconceptions were identified through the results such as worries about the fairness of competition as well as perceptions about skill level, with participants noting apprehensions that Women's Only (Trans Welcome) Intramural Leagues are possibly less competitive, potentially deterring participation. Overall, this research study was able to determine valuable insights into the motivations, barriers, perceptions, and experiences of participants in intramural sports leagues at UBC, specifically within the context of the Women's Only (Trans Welcome) Intramural Leagues. Using these findings multiple recommendations were produced for UBC Recreation that could be implemented in the Women’s Only (Trans Welcome) Intramural Leagues to promote motivators, tackle barriers, and encourage positive perceptions in order to increase participation and contribute to creating a more supportive environment for all participants in intramural sports, within the UBC Recreation community. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”