ABSTRACT

Some sports systems, such as that introduced in India, have been explicitly based on a multiple-track model of elite performance success and broad-based participation. The Three Worlds model has the premise that publicly funded sport development systems have an obligation to aspire to support both elite sporting success, and individuals who can fulfil themselves through sport achievement and a population with an enthusiasm and opportunity for lifelong physical activity. Sports participation can be usefully conceptualised in terms of three primary distinct contexts: the realisation of Elite Referenced Excellence, Personal Referenced Excellence and Participation for Personal Wellbeing (PPW). PPW equates to recreational participation in physical activity to satisfy needs other than personal progression within the skill-set of the activity, such as the improvement of one's social life, the enhancement of one's social identity, personal renewal or the maintenance of aspects of self-concept.