Determinants of under-representation of Kenyan university students in selected ball games at the international competitions By Dr. Chumba Janet Muhalia

Kenyan universities have the potential of presenting a significant percentage of athletes to the national teams just like other countries around the world. The country has over seventy public and private universities with over half a million students currently admitted to study in various programs.  Internationally, Kenya is renowned as a leading performer in world track athletics, women's volleyball and rugby sevens. The purpose of the study was to assess the factors that influence under-representation of Kenyan university sports students in selected ball games at international sporting competitions. The first objective was to identify participation by gender.  Objective two sought to determine the effect of facility and equipment. Objective three was to assess the effect and quality of human resource. Objective four aimed at determining the influence of motivation and pull factors for sports.

A descriptive survey research design was used to gather data from 268 students and 38 administrative staff of Kenyan universities. Research instruments included a questionnaires and an interview schedule .Data analysis utilized descriptive and inferential analytical techniques. Findings indicated that male students had a higher participation in soccer, rugby and handball, while female had a higher participation in netball. Objective two noted that a higher respondents from private universities than public universities (69% versus 44%) reported that their infrastructure was in good condition. Objective three concluded that private universities had a higher numbers of human resource compared to public universities and finally objective four concluded that majority of the students 39% participated in sports for fitness.

The study concluded that university sports and management of sports is male dominated in Kenya, private universities have better sporting facility than public universities, private universities have adequate human resource compared to public universities and finally Kenyan university students participate in sports for fitness and not professionalism. Finally the study recommended that the two third gender rule should apply in management of sports, partnerships with the co-operate world should be encouraged in terms of infrastructure, and exposure of Kenyan sports students to participate in international competitions organized by universities worldwide should be encouraged.

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