2 | 61 A new life stage, a new sport activity? Each decade, the odds of starting a sport increased by 30.5%. Finally, we see in model 1 that, compared to natives, the odds of starting a sport for non-natives of non-Western origin were 8.8% smaller (Exp(B)=0.912). Model 2 adds the number of sports practised, sport participation in youth and educational level. The effects of the control variables hardly change, but now non-natives of Western origin are also found to be less likely to start a sport than natives (Exp(B)=0.920). Unexpectedly, the number of sports practised was positively related to starting a sport; per sport, the odds of starting a new sport increased by 6.5% (Exp(B)=1.065). Apparently, there is no ceiling effect, and a sportive lifestyle and attitude can in fact be a stimulus to take up even more sports. Respondents who participated in sport in their youth had 16.9% higher odds to start a sport than those who did not take part in sport as a child (Exp(B)=1.169). Finally, we can derive from model 2 that the odds of starting a sport were 17.3% and 37.6% higher for respondents with, respectively, a medium educational level and a high educational level, compared to those with a low educational level (Exp(B)=1.173). In model 3 we added the dynamically measured major life events. The results show that both starting a paid job and moving out to live on one’s own, in contrast to our expectations, related positively to starting a sport. In the years respondents started a paid job and moved out to live on their own (including the anticipatory years and the knock-on years), the odds of starting a sport were, respectively, 17.5% (Exp(B)=1.175) and 19.2% (Exp(B)=1.192) higher, compared to the odds of starting a sport in the years in which these events did not occur. Cohabiting or marrying did not affect starting a sport. The birth of one’s first child, as expected, was negatively associated with starting a sport (Exp(B)=0.804). Compared to the years in which this life event did not occur, the odds of starting a sport diminished by 19.6% when respondents became a parent. Children leaving home and retirement were positively related to starting a sport, as expected. The odds of starting a sport were 31.4% (Exp(B)=1.314) and 121.4% (Exp(B)=2.214) higher when, respectively, respondents’ children left home and when they retired, compared to the odds for the years in which respondents did not experience these events. The theorised reduction in care and work obligations, as predicted, seems to have had positive consequences for sport participation.
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