Organizational components and athlete participation in university team sports: A systems-based analysis

Collegiate sports programs rely on coordinated organizational support to sustain athlete participation across competitive levels. This study examined the implementation of four organizational components of a university Sports Development Program and their relationships with athlete participation among collegiate varsity student-athletes. A quantitative cross-sectional explanatory design was employed with 75 varsity student-athletes from basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball at a public university in the Philippines. Data were collected using a researcher-developed 70-item questionnaire assessing recruitment and retention, benefits and incentives, sports facilities, equipment maintenance, and participation in local, regional, and national competitions. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product–moment correlation, and multiple linear regression were used. The organizational components were generally highly to very highly implemented. Athlete participation was very high at the local and regional levels and high at the national level. The organizational components were generally positively associated with participation, although the strength and significance of relationships varied across competitive levels. The regression model was significant, F(4, 70) = 8.425, p < .001, explaining 32.5% of the variance in overall athlete participation. Equipment maintenance was the only significant predictor (β = .487, p < .001). The findings suggest that equipment maintenance represents an important organizational area associated with athlete participation, while the broader systems perspective highlights the complementary roles of recruitment and retention, benefits and incentives, and sports facilities. The findings provide an empirical basis for strengthening collegiate Sports Development Programs through coordinated organizational planning and resource management.