Building Resilience Through Ethnic Sporting Events: Promotive Factors at the 2023 Korean American National Sports Festival

This study examines how, in the wake of COVID-19, ethnic sporting events fostered personal and community resilience among Korean American sport participants. In particular, the study explores how participants’ resilience varied by promotive factors relevant to the context of ethnic sporting events. For the promotive factors, the researchers focused on three elements: the intrapersonal benefits that ethnic participants derived from participating in sports, the perceived capacity of ethnic sport clubs, and membership in ethnic sport clubs. The researchers collected 200 self-administered surveys at the 2023 Korean American Sports Festival. A Two-Step Cluster Analysis identified three groups based on the promotive factors—Embedded Synergy Group, Peripheral Engagement Group, and Disconnected Affiliation Group. A MANCOVA then assessed differences in personal and community resilience, while controlling for ethnic identity. The results indicate that the Embedded Synergy Group exhibited higher personal resilience than the Peripheral Engagement and Disconnected Affiliation Groups. There was no significant difference in community resilience. The study identifies promotive factors relevant to the context of ethnic sporting events. Also, the study reveals how promotive factors helped ethnic sport participants build their resilience to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19. Findings underscore the vital role of ethnic sporting events in fostering personal resilience.