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This research examines barriers that urban youth face which limit participation in sport. Conceptually, this work distinguishes between three categories of active (participatory) engagement: 1) those that never participated; 2) those that used to participate; 3) those that do participate; and their level of passive engagement. A set of hypotheses for urban youth sport participation incorporating external and intrinsic factors are tested and guided by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Based on pre-interviews with urban youth (n = 53), a large-sample survey (n = 3,003) of youth in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver was conducted. Results identified four segments of urban youth participation; a multiple regression analysis supported the TPB as an appropriate lens for understanding urban youth sport participation. The development of segments of urban youth based on sport engagement has implications for managers involved in promoting participation. The article contributes theoretically through the extension of the TPB in the context of urban youth participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the sponsorship of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. He notes that sponsorship for the event will come in the form of The Olympic Program (TOP). He adds that the nine TOP sponsors would spend millions of dollars in acquiring the exclusive rights to their respective categories and more in trying to maximise the benefits of being an Olympic sponsor. He mentions that host nation Canada has exceeded its budget of 600 million dollars intended for the event.