Kids' motives of sport participation and the image of handball-a qualitative approach to increasing the number of child members.

Membership in the German Handball Federation (DHB) has been declining across all age groups for around 10 years, at least until 2022. Specifically, this trend is reflected in a loss of almost 30% of teams in the younger age groups and even in one third in the age groups of juveniles. For handball in Germany, this is a worrying development. It raises questions about both reasons for this development and how a leading sport association should tackle the problem to ensure a sustainable future of its own sport. These demands were explored in a cooperative project between Weingarten University of Education and the German Sport University Cologne in collaboration with the German Handball Federation. Our common theoretical basis was the motive-image-fit approach. It assumes that children and young people only turn to handball or remain loyal to it if the subjective perception of this sport (image) and the motive structures of the children and young people match. Against this backdrop, two research questions took center stage aiming at children's motives for playing handball and identifying their image of handball. To answer these research questions, an exploratory sequential mixed methods study (QUAL ⇨ QUAN) has been implemented, the first part of which we report on here. The Weingarten research group conducted 35 semi-standardized interviews with 8-12-year-old children. The analysis was carried out using the qualitative content analysis method and MAXQDA 24 software, which led to the development of a deductive-inductive category system. On the basis of 35 interviews we found out that handball is an inspiring, success-oriented and community-oriented sport for many children. In addition, it promotes self-efficacy and team spirit. While the sport is perceived as dynamic by active players, children who do not actively play handball describe it as challenging due to a complex set of rules or the pressure to perform. Thus, our findings contribute to a differentiated view of the motive-image fit and can also contribute to the sustainable development of handball as a sport.