Samenvatting

A novel life stage, a fresh new sport? Life course transitions and their effect on starting a sport In this study we establish the effects of major life course events on the odds to start a sport and on the odds to start a competitive sport. To answer our research question we employ retrospective life course data from the Dutch SportersMonitor2010 on 3.540 individuals. Event history analyses show that the chance to start a sport decreases at the moment people start living together or get married, and they have a first child. The chance to start a sport increases when they start working, start living on their own, their children leave the parental home and when they retire. Finally, being active in competitive sport foremost is stimulated by the transition to paid work and leaving the parental home.