ABSTRACT
This study was designed to appraise the Influence of intramural sport programme on female student’s participation in physical Activities and Sport. A total of three hundred and seventy one (371) female respondents of university of Benin students from 100 level to 400 level in the University of Benin participated in this cross sectional study. Instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire which was developed by the researcher. It was validated by two (2) experts in the field of Human Kinetics and Sports Science.The simple count, frequency percentage was used to analyse the demographic information of students. Mean and standard deviation was used to analyse the response of the respondents to the research questions raised.
The findings revealed that things that discourage female students from participating in sports include, it is believed to be for males only, parents see intramural sports programme as waste of time, parents belief that female students who participate in sports behave like their male counterparts, for fear of getting injuries and fear of it affecting their studies, it leads to low academic performance, makes female student neglect their studies, female student who’s participate in intramural sports do not do well el academically, inadequate sports infrastructure, culture and traditions, religious beliefs, Absence of sport trainers or coaches. The data further showed that their are benefits for female Students who participate in intramural sports programme which includes it promote the well being of female participants, they do well academically, increase confidence, boasts self esteem, less likely to be overweight or obese d and depressed, A positive team intramural sports programme experience may mediate the risk of low social acceptance and dissatisfaction with one’s body. This study therefore concluded that appropriate measures should be implemented to motivate female students in participation of intramural sports programme in the University of Benin.
