Sport commitment: The past, present and future in Spain and Portugal

Abstract

The main objectives of this paper are to discuss the origins and to address the main findings of research undertaken in the field of sport commitment, particularly with regard to the Iberian Peninsula, trying to suggest some key future challenges for this field of knowledge. An outline is given of the current configuration of the Sport Commitment Model developed by Tara Scanlan and her team at UCLA within the framework of the Sport Commitment Scale International Development Project in order to explain why athletes continue to do sport over time. A presentation is given of the tool developed by the said authors to test the proposed model, which has subsequently been adopted by most researchers in this field; that is, the Sport Commitment Questionnaire (SCQ). Additionally, an explanation is given of the process of the development of a revised improved version of the tool (the Sport Commitment Questionnaire-2; SCQ-2), based on the de-centering method, which facilitates its translation into and adaptation to different languages in order to obtain a valid reliable instrument - one that is currently being adapted to the Portuguese and Spanish cultures. Finally, the main challenges for future research in this field are outlined: 1) to adapt the SCQ-2 to other languages; 2) to investigate sport commitment, taking into account individuals’ age, gender and competition level; 3) to adapt the SCQ-2 to different contexts and sports stakeholders; 4) to analyze the relationship between sport commitment and other variables; and 5) to develop an instrument for monitoring sport commitment.