The Factors that Affect Female Football Players to Get Involved With Sports and Their Expectations From Sport in Turkey

Aim: To determine the factors that encourage female football players to get involved with sports and their expectations in Turkey.
Material and Methot: The survey used in the research has been developed and applied to other branches by Sunay and Saraçloğlu the validity and reliability of the survey has been approved (Sunay & Saraçoğlu, 2003). Expert opinions were taken about the survey applied to the football branch and necessary arrangements were done. The survey was applied to 250 female football players playing in second and third division and registered to 2016-2017 season and whose age average is 19.58 ± 3.10. The frequency and percentage of the data obtained from the questionnaire are explained and interpreted. Kruskal Wallis H and Mann Whitney U test was used. A significance level of p <0.05 was selected. The data obtained was explained and interpreted with frequency and percentages.
Results: while the parents ranked first among the factors encouraging female football players to get involved with this sport, the influence of media organs was found very low. While loving football ranked first among the reasons to get involved in, participating in a social circle was found to have almost no influence. It was found that while getting a college education about this branch in future was among the main expectations, being a referee was the last expectation for them. While evaluating educational status and sport incentives total scores of the participants, it was seen that there is meaningfulness in favour of those continuing their education in high school. Considering the participating in the survey, sport incentives total scores of those who play sports for 5 years and less was found more meaningful compared to those who play sports for 6 years and more. There wasn’t found any meaningful relevance between the educational levels and occupations of the parents of and the factors encouraging female football players to get involved in sports and their expectations.
Conclusion: It is considered that positive approach of parents to this branch of sports affects females positively to play football.