The role of social communication on recreational sport participation in the parks of Mashhad

Sport as one of the man's prominent activities has an important role in citizen life. Nowadays, the urban parks are very important places to take part in physical activities and communicate with other people. The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of social communication on recreational sport participation in the urban parks focused on demographic characteristics of participants.
It is a descriptive survey done as a field study. The research population was the people who participated in physical activities in the parks of Mashhad. According to Morgan's sampling table, the sample size was 384 participants selected by cluster random sampling. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire prepared considering the research literature and background. The validity was approved by the experts. Cronbach's Alpha showed a high reliability (α= 0.88).
Making friends and communicating with the peers were the important motivations for the participants. Accompanying friends were considered as a strong stimulus for participants to continue sport participation in the parks. Interestingly, the communication networks of recreational sport participation have been extended to non-sport spaces.
The old people, individuals with higher education degree and the divorced ones do not mind sport participation to make social communication.