1 | 33 Synthesis This dissertation adds to the literature by studying sport participation specifically, in contrast to earlier research on the impact of major life events that focusses mostly on physical activity (Allender et al., 2008; Engberg et al., 2012; Haycock & Smith, 2018; Hirvensalo & Lintunen, 2011; Li et al., 2009). Although sport participation and physical activity are to some extent related, they are not equal. Not every type of physical activity can be labelled sport, and not every sport requires physical activity. Nonetheless, with ongoing processes of “sportisation”, the boundaries between the two do appear to be increasingly eroding (e.g., in fitness, bicycling and swimming). Hence it comes as no surprise that there is overlap in the literature between the concepts and determinants of sport participation and of leisure time physical activity (Coakley, 2004). From a functional view, both sport and physical activity are appreciated for their advantageous consequences (Schlesinger & Nagel, 2015; Waardenburg & Van Bottenburg, 2013), meanly in health and “healthy aging” (Bauman et al., 2016; Coenders et al., 2017; Miles, 2007; Reiner et al., 2013). Furthermore, participating in sport is recognised –more than physical activity – for its contributions to various other valuable aspects of the lives of human beings as well, such as social relations, playfulness, and considered to be a meaningful end in itself by many people (Eime et al., 2013; Putnam, 1995; Seippel, 2006). This makes sport participation an important social phenomenon to focus on in sociological research (Breuer & Wicker, 2008), and relevant to investigate how it is affected by major life events, besides studying the effect of life events on physical activity. The results of this dissertation support that employing a neo-Weberian resource approach (Breen, 2005), as outlined in section 1.3, is very useful for explaining sport participation over the life course and proved to be contributable to get a better understandingof themechanisms underlying the relationbetweenmajor life events and sport participation. As suggested by earlier research (Bartley et al., 1997; Heikkinen, 2010; Hirvensalo & Lintunen, 2011; Tiessen-Raaphorst et al., 2010), the findings of my qualitative narrative study presented in Chapter 5 confirm that major life events alter the temporal, social, physical, mental and/ or economic resources a person can draw on. In addition, I find that these alterations in resources associated with the occurrence of major life events play a decisive role in why and how changes in sport participation occur. In this regard, the impact of major life events can provide a tangible explanation for the relationship between sport activity and age from a life course perspective, as major life events and the associated changes in resources offer a meaningful
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