148 | Chapter 15 Another important extrinsic motivation mentioned by participants regards the social value of sport participation: It was a great way for them to gain or maintain social relations: “We all went a different way with some girlfriends, to different schools. And then we decided to start playing basketball together in a team, to conserve those friendships.” (Hetty) “I joined the varsity field hockey team [as an exchange student]. As I lived in the little world of foreign students, this was a very nice way to get to know native Australian girls.” (Viona) “I practise sport with colleagues. I like it when it is social and fun, because sport isn’t a mental outlet for me, like it is for many people.” (Jodie) “When my partner and I got married, uhm, then it was actually like: gosh, there is more to sport than just physical exercise. It also provides you social contact. That was actually the first impetus to play badminton together once a week in our leisure time, at a club nearby.” (Zoran) Most of these narrative fragments illustrating perceived positive social benefits of sport, reveal another social pattern we found as well. Namely, that participants’ decisions to participate in sport after the occurrence of major life events were positively affected by receiving social support and motivation from significant others. In particular, having “sport activity enablers” within the social network who facilitate sport participation, or “sport activity anchors” that stimulate you to join or sustain a sport activity, empowered participants to start, continue or get going again after the occurrence of major life events: “When I began to work there, I think around 10-15 of my immediate colleagues did cycle racing, and they often asked, ‘Will you come train with us?’ or ‘Will you join us in races?’.” (Mark) “I was not sure how I could combine regular sport participation and a child. Then my husband gave me running shoes as a gift and then I started a bit with Evy [a
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