Investigating the participation motives of women rugby union players in Canada and Wales

Previous interview research has indicated that women’s rugby union participation is multifaceted, with most players providing several different motives for getting involved in the sport.
The aim of this study was to further examine participation motivation in women’s rugby by
replicating and extending the findings of the earlier research (Kerr, 2021) using a different
approach to data collection and a larger sample size. Snowball sampling was used to recruit
rugby playing female participants. A qualitative study focusing on participant responses to
open-ended questions on participation motivation from an online survey was then undertaken.
Thematic analysis was utilized to identify sub-themes and major themes from the data. These
were found to be common to both Canadian and Welsh female rugby players. Four major
themes were identified from the survey data. These were: Intrinsic motivation; Unique culture;
Barriers to participation; and Acknowledgment of future generations. These major themes
subsumed a number of sub-themes with overlapping characteristics. Empowerment and sense
of challenge were included under the major theme Intrinsic motivation, and counterculture
and stereotypes included under the major theme Barriers to participation. The current study
replicated a number of findings from the original study, but there were two new findings. The
first was that some players experienced a strong sense of empowerment through playing rugby.
The second was the desire to give something back and help to continue to grow the sport.
Reversal theory was used to interpret the findings and explain the psychological background to
the players’ participation motives.