Chapter 7: Recreation and Leisure

Objective
At the end of this chapter, the students will be able to:

 define recreation and leisure;

 determine the varied views of recreation and leisure;
 describe the motivations for recreational participation;
 explain the factors which promote the growth of recreation
 discuss the major types of organized recreation;
 explain the role of sports and tourism as major recreation service components;
 differentiate theme parks, water parks, fun centers, and sports tourism; and
 analyze the need for professional leadership in the recreation field; and
I. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

Meaning of Rereation and Leisure

Image taken from: Visitsingapore.com

The dictionary defines ‘’recreation’’ as the process of giving new life to something, of
restoring something. ‘’Leisure’’ is defined as the productive, creative, or contemplative use of
free time.

Recreational Activities

Recreational activities include all kinds of sports, both team and individual, such as
baseball, softball, football, basketball, voleyball, tennis, badminton, swimming, skiing, hiking,
jogging, aerobics, and rock climbing, which are active forms of recreation. Passive recreational
activities include reading, fishing, playing and listening to music, gardening, playing computer
games, and watching television shows or movies.

Varied Views of Recreation and Leisure

For some, recreation means the network of

public agencies that provide parks, playgrounds,
swimming pools, sports fields, and community
centers in several cities, towns, countries, or park
districts. They may view these facilities as an outlet
for the young people or a means of achieving family
togetherness or pursuing interesting hobbies,
sports, or social activities.
Image taken from: durhamcollege.ca

For others, recreation may be found in a senior center, a sheltered workshop for
mentally challenged individuals, or a treatment center for physicall rehabilitation.
 Environentalists may be principally concerned about the impact of outdoor forms of
recreation on our natural surroundings such as forests, mountains, rivers, and lakes which are
the national heritage of a nation.

Recreation and leisure are all these things. They represent a rewarding form of human
experience. At present, the value of recreation and leisure is universally accepted. As a
consequence, the government in both developed and developing countries has accepted the
responsibility of providing and assisting leisure opportunities through extensive recreation and
park systems.

Recreational Participation

The most common notion of recreation is that it

is primarily a participation in sports and games.
Recreational actually includes an extremely broad
range of leisure activities including travel and tourism,
cultural entertainment, participation in the arts,
hobbies, membership in social clubs, or interest
groups, nature-related activities such as hunting and
fishing, and attendance at parties, special events, and
fitness activities.
Image taken from: buddyloans.com
Recreation may be enjoyed with thousands of
participants or spectators or may be a solitary
experience. It may be very strenuous or may be
primarily a mental activity. It may act as a lifetime of
interest and involvement or may consist of a single,
isolated experience.

Motivations of Recreational Participation

Many participants take part in recreation as a form of relaxation and release from the
pressure of work and other tensions. Another recreational motivation is the need to express
creativity, expose hidden talents, or pursue excellence in various forms of personal expression.

For some participants, activie recreation offers a channel for releasing hostility and
aggression. It is also a way of struggling against the environment in adventurous and high-risk
pursuits. Others enjor recreation because it provides them the opportunity to make new friends
or cooperate with others in group activities.
 Many individuals take part in recreational activities which involve community service,
provide leadership in fraternal or religious organizations, and promote health and physical
fitness.

Factors Promoting the Growth of Recreation

The following are the factors that help bring about the growth of recreation:

1. Increase in Discretionary time – A key factor underlying the

growth of recreationhas been the growth of free or discretionary
time in the 20th Century. More holidays and longer vacations are
now enjoyed by most employees. Because of improved social
security benefits and pension plans, as well as medical
advances which lead to a longer life, many employees can now
avail of 15 or more years of full-time leisure after retirement.

2. Influencing of technology – Sophisticated technology has

provided new forms of recreation for people. Outdoor recreation
uses complex and expensive devices in activities such as
skydiving, hang gliding, scuba diving, boating, roller blading,
skiing, and snowboarding. The internet has become an
important part of travel and tourism by providing information
and facilitating reservations and vacation choices. Home-based
recreation has become dependent on varied forms of electronic
Image taken from: ITBrief.com
entertainment.

3. Public interest in health and fitness – A key trend in the 20th

Century is the growth of public interest in exercise and physical
fitness programs. Many people are now concerned about
improving their health, vitality, and appearance through diet and
exercise.
Image taken from: TheWriteLife.com

4. Commodification of Leisure – Various forms of recreation are being developed by profit-

seeking businesses. Giant corporations have taken control of music, television, movie
businesses, sports stadiums, cruise ships, theme parks and other leisure operations.

5. Therapeutic recreation service – An important aspect of the growth of recreation has been the
increased awareness of the recreation needs of persons with physical, mental, or social
disabilities. One of the sports programs for people with disabilities that has received much
attention in recent years is the Special Olympics, an international program of physical fitness,
sports training, and athletic competition for children and adults with mental retardation.
6. New leisure roles for women – At present, there is a
strong drive by women to play a more equal role in
recreational opportunities. In the past, women were barred
from a variety of athletic, outdoor recreation, cultural, and
social involvements. There is now a growing interest in
womes’s tennis, golf, gymnastics, track and field, and
similar events in every level of competition. Outstanding
women athletes have helped create new things a new
image of feminine strength, determination, and self-
Image taken from: Olympicchannel.com
confidence.

Types of Organized Recreation

1. Government recreation agencies – These are the federal, state, provincial agencies and local
departments that provide recreation and leisure services as a primary function. Also included
are other agencies that offer recreation programs as a secondary responsibility such as those
concerned with social service, education, special populations, and the armed forces.

2. Voluntary nonprofit organizations – These are nongovernmental, nonprofit agencies, both

sectarian and nonsectarian, which serve the public with multiservice programs that often include
a substantial element of a recreational opportunity.

3. Private membership organizations – They provide recreational and social activities for their
own members and in, some cases, assist community recreation needs. Examples are golf,
tennies, yacht and country clubs.,

4. Commercial recreation programs – These are privately owned business which operate to
make a profit such as ski centers, bowling alleys, nightclubs, movie houses, theaters, health
spas or fitness centers, dancing schools, and theme parks.

5. Employee recreation programs – They serve those who work for companies or employers by
providing recreation as part of a total personal benefits package, linked other services
concerned with employee health and fitness.

6. Armed forces recreation – Although it is obviously form of government-sponsored activity, it is

unique in its setting and purpose. Each of the major branches of the armed forces operates an
extensive network of recreation facilities and programs.
7. Campus recreation – In includes intramural athletic sports clubs, social activities, travel
programs, performing arts groups, entertainment, lounges, film series, and other forms of
recreation on college and university campuses.

8. Therepeutic reccreation services – These include any type of program designed to meet the
needs of persons with physical or mental disabilities, individuals with poor health, dependent
aging persons, social deviant persons in correctional facilities, and similar special groups.

Two Major Recreation Service Components

In addition to the eight types of organized recreation, sports and tourism represent major
areas of recreational programming and constitute powerful economic forces through their
attraction for people of every age and background. Uniquely, they have strong links to each
other through the growing field of sports tourism and also overlap heavily with outdoor
recreation attractions.

Sports as Popular Recreation

Sports are major areas of recreational involvement.

Of all the types of recreational involvement, sports
command the highest degree of personal interest and
emotional involvement both for those who participate
actively in them and those who are part of a big number of
fans of school, college, and professional teams.

Tourism – A Major Recreation Service Component

Tourism is a second major area of diversified recreational involvement. Several major

elements in the tourism enterprise which are closely linked to the growth of tourism as a form of
recreation are the theme parks, water parks, fun centers, and sports tourism.

Theme Parks
 Image taken from: allacor.com

Theme parks usually concentrate on one dominant theme which may be historical,
cultural, or geographical. An example of a theme park with a single theme is the marine
zoological Sea World Park. Other parks focus on multiple themes like the Great America in
California, a hundred-acre family entertainment center divided into five themes: Home Town
Square, Yukon Territory, Yankee Harbor, Country Fair, and Orleans Place. The most popular
theme park is Disneyland in Anaheim, California which was built by the late Walt Disney around
the theme of Disney characters.

Theme parks create an atmosphere in which the visitor is likely to experience fantasy,
glamour, escapism, prestige, and excitement. Once inside the gate, the visitor is completely
shut off from the outside the world and immersed in an enjoyable recreational experience.

Water Parks

A specialized type of theme park are the water

parks. They feature wave pools, slides, chutes, shows, and
other forms of water-based play and entertainment

Image taken from: facebook.com

Fun Centers

In heavily populated metropolitan areas,

entrepreneurs have developed a variety of indoor fun
centers, ranging from children’s play, gymnastics, to family
party centers, video games arcades, and big restaurants
with game area.
Sports Tourism
Image taken from: Rappler.com

The purpose of sports tourism is to

participate directly in a form of sport or attend
sports events as spectator. In the past, only the
team traveled; the spectators remained behindd to
read about their favorite game or to experience the
game through radio and television. Today, both the
team and the specatators travel to the games
especially where championship games are
involved.

II. SUMMARY

Recreation is the process of giving new life to something, of restoring something;

whereas, leisure is the productive, creative, or contemplative use of free time.

Recreational activities can be active or passive, individual or group activity. There are
varied views about recreation and leisure as well as motivations for recreational participation.

Several factors promoted the growth of recreation. These are increase in discretionary
time, influence of technology, public interest in health and fitness, coomodification of leisure,
therapeutic recreation service, and new leisure role for women.

The major types of organized recreation are government recreation agencies, voluntary
nonprofit organizations, private membership organizations, commercial recreation enterprises,
employee recreation programs, armed forces recreation, campus recreation, and therapeutic
recreation services.

Sports and tourism are the two major recreation service components. Sports is a popular
recreation for both youth and adults. The major elements in the tourism industry which are
closely related to the growth of tourism as a form of recreation are theme parks, water parks,
fun centers, and sports of tourism.

There is a need for qualified professional leadership in the recreation field because the
professional’s assignment in the organized recreation field is complex and difficult. As a result of
the increase in employment in recreation agencies, recreation is now recognized as a
flourishing career field. Several million men and women are now employed in various
specialized sectors of the recreation service. Many hold professional-level jobs as recreation
leaders, managers, therapists, planners, and consultants in the different types of recreation
agencies. These individuals are generally regarded as professional on the basis of their job
responsibilities, specialized training, and affiliations with professional societies.