4 | 103 The transition to adulthood: A game changer!? facilities offered (supply side) and rules, expectations, and responsibilities set by or imposed on others (demand side). Sport clubs run voluntarily by and for members constitute a formal setting for sport participation that is “heavy” on both counts (Borgers et al., 2016a, 2016b; Coakley, 2004; Ibsen & Seippel, 2010; Pilgaard, 2013). At the other end of the spectrum are settings that offer the “lightest” alternatives, like practising sport alone or in an informal group (Borgers et al., 2018; Scheerder & Van Bottenburg, 2010). In most European countries, including the Netherlands, practising sport in a “heavy” club setting is most common among young people and men. Although, the Netherlands has the highest sport club membership rates of Europe and gender differences are small (Breuer, Hoekman, Nagel, & Werff, 2015; European Commission, 2014). According to the most recent data on sport club membership of the Dutch population (ages 6 and older), 31% - 34% of the men and 28% of the women - participate in a club setting (The Netherlands Institute for Social Research & Statistics Netherlands, 2016). Borgers et al. (2016a) refer to an emerging body of literature indicating a rise of “light” sport settings over the past 20 to 30 years. These “light” settings are particularly gaining popularity during the transition to adulthood, which appears to come along with a drop-out from club-organised sport and a drop-in to “sport light” (Borgers et al., 2016b; European Commission, 2014; Lunn, 2010; Pilgaard, 2013; Scheerder et al., 2006; Vandermeerschen et al., 2016). This presents a challenge to sport clubs, as “lighter” settings seem to fulfil a need for less frequent and less time-consuming modes of sport participation (Borgers et al., 2016a) and more flexible patterns of sport participation when entering a new life phase in life, like adulthood (Borgers et al., 2016b; Lunn, 2010; Pilgaard, 2013; Scheerder & Vos, 2011). Earlier research indicate that this is especially true for women, showing that they spend less time on sport and practise sport less frequently than men (for a review of existing literature on the frequency of and time spend on sport participation, see: Borgers et al., 2016a). Additionally, in the Netherlands, women are less likely than men to prefer a club setting to a “light” setting when starting a new sport (Van Houten et al., 2014), and specifically young Dutch women (aged 18–35) are more likely to stop practising a sport in general and in a club setting in particular, compared to their male counterparts (Van Houten et al., 2017). In the next section we develop a theoretical framework to explain the effects of major life events that mark the transition to adulthood on differences and changes in the number of sports
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