Ulaanbaatar City Community Sport Development and the Youth Sport Participation: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

My research was designed to develop an understanding on of the current status of community participation in community sport development activities with emphasis on Mongolian youth participation frequency in community sports development activities, with the objectives to understand what restricts youth participation in such activities and how these activities can be promoted and developed in the community. The study analyzed sports law, physical culture policies and annual activities reports to develop understanding on current status of community participation. The research questions were establish in such a way to first measured the status and frequency of participation then to investigate the barriers and eventually identified best practices to develop and promote community sport activities. Qualitative research method approach was identified as the right research choice and research was conducted accordingly. The questionnaire containing close and open questions was used to collect the opinions of the participants of in the research. The analysis demonstrated that youth of Mongolia are not actively participating in community sports development activities. The basic problems identified by this research were unfavorable environment, shortage of infrastructure, lack of allied facilities, poor promotional campaigns, poor knowledge campaigns and poor management. The study identified the following best practices that could be adopted to promote and develop community sport in Ulaanbaatar city: effective and cooperative management, prize money and incentives for participants, incorporating fun as well as competition during activities, ease of access to sports facilities, equipping sports infrastructure with modern technology, training facilities provision, supplying detailed information of the activity, event environment, and increasing the involvement of educational institutions.