Influence Of Socio-Cultural Environment On Talent Identification For Rugby Players In Rugby Clubs In Kenya
View/ Open
Date
2020Author
Otieno, Michael David
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The role of the socio-cultural environment on talent identification for sports has been a
topical issue among sports researchers for decades. The purpose of the study was to
investigate the influence of the socio-cultural environment on talent identification for
male rugby clubs in Kenya with regard to how the players are recruited to join the clubs.
More specifically the roles played by families, peers, coaches, schools, and club
infrastructure were examined. A descriptive survey research design was used for the
study to establish the roles. A total sample of n=95 rugby players and n=15 coaches
drawn from the 76 rugby clubs registered with the Kenya Rugby Union and participating
in the 2016-2017 league competition, took part in the study and were obtained through
stratified sampling, quota sampling and simple random sampling. The data for this study
were collected using questionnaires for the players and interview schedules for the
coaches. A test-re-test technique was used to test reliability. The data collected were
analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The Chi- square test was used
to test all the hypotheses at 0.05 significant levels. Findings indicate that the role of peers
with a P value of 0.556 was found to have significant relationship on talent identification
for rugby clubs in Kenya. However the familial influence (P value =0.4778), role of
coaches (P value=0.285), players’ secondary school rugby playing experience (P value =
0.379) and club infrastructure (P value = 0.341) had no significant relationship with talent
identification for rugby clubs in Kenya. From the study findings, it is recommended that
that peering in rugby needs to be strengthened through clubs. This can be done by
encouraging players to bring along their rugby playing friends during training and match
days to enable them to integrate and associate with the club. There is also need to look at
ways of engaging parents and ensuring that they are incorporated in the talent
identification process while club rugby coaches should be encouraged and facilitated to
attend the school rugby competitions from the grassroots to national levels through a
formal partnership between the clubs and K.S.S.S.A. There is however need to diversify
and also use other means of talent identification to capture players who might not have
attended secondary schools or whose schools do not participate in the K.S.S.S.A rugby
competitions. The study also recommended the use of intramurals like inter house or inter
class competitions in a bid to capture players who might have not played for the school
teams but have the potential to play and excel at club rugby and the provision and use of
appropriate facilities..Other studies involving physiological, anthropometric and
psychological attributes of talent identification that could lead to the establishment of an
all inclusive talent identification model were recommended by the study. Finally a study
involving female rugby players was recommended as it would elicit some aspects of
gender differences that may impact on the talent identification process which were not
addressed by this study
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5980]
The following license files are associated with this item: