ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to investigate the influence of Sport Participation on youth development in University of Benin, Ugbowo Campus. Student-athletes as case study. Five research questions were raised and a stratified sampling technique was used to select hundred (100) students which were drawn from the sports center in the University of Benin. The data were collected with questionnaire instruments and analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation. It was revealed that Sport Participation influence the physical, social, academic and emotional intelligence of Student-athletes. Further findings of the study revealed that engaging in sports and physical exercise enhances cognitive abilities like attention, memory and information processing. Based on the findings of this study, the study therefore concluded that Student-athletes in the University of Benin should be offer a wide range of sport Programmes and other sporting activities to accommodate their various interest and abilities to bring about youth development. Also there should be an increase in the awareness of the importance of physical fitness among University of Benin students in order to promote youth development through sport Participation. . There should be creation of Social Opportunities for student-athletes through sport Participation to bring about youth development.