Surrounded by sea, stuck on land: the aquatic provision paradox in island municipality sport programming
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v81.119091Keywords:
Aquatic activities , barriers, Canary Islands, municipal sport management, nature-based physical activitiesAbstract
Introduction: Nature-based physical activities (NBPA) represent an established content area in physical education and municipal sport management, yet research on their programming by local sport services remains scarce, particularly in island contexts.
Objective: To analyse the distribution of terrestrial and aquatic NBPA in municipal sport programming across the Canary Islands and to identify factors associated with aquatic provision.
Methodology: A descriptive and correlational census-type study was conducted. Sport officials from 40 municipalities (41 responses; out of 88 in the archipelago) were surveyed using an ad hoc questionnaire addressing provision, barriers, and resource perception.
Results: What we term the aquatic paradox was documented: 75.8% of programmed NBPA were terrestrial, despite 92.7% of municipalities being coastal and technicians rating aquatic resources favourably (M = 3.05). Only 41.5% had a dedicated NBPA programme, and 61.0% programmed no aquatic activities at all. Tourism intensity was negatively associated with aquatic provision (ρ = -.343, p = .028), and minor islands reported significantly higher human resource barriers (U = 125.5, p = .025).
Discussion: A significant gap was identified between the importance attributed to improving NBPA and the actual expectation of doing so (W = 15.5, p = .006), consistent with the intention-behaviour gap literature in municipal sport management.
Conclusions: Island municipal sport programming underutilises the aquatic environment, a phenomenon that may extend to other Spanish coastal territories. Findings carry implications for sport technician training, NBPA programme design, and ocean literacy.
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