Author(s): KIM, S., KIM, J., Institution: MOKPO NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, Country: KOREA, SOUTH, Abstract-ID: 784

Introduction: The crisis of local extinction, driven by population decline and aging, threatens community sustainability and directly impacts community sports through reduced participation, facility inefficiencies, and program standardization. The purpose of this study is to identify how population decline affects community sports systems and to propose core tasks for building sustainable community sports in shrinking regions. Research questions address: (1) How does population decline change participation structures and operational environments? (2) What social functions can community sports perform? (3) What core tasks are required for sustainable community sports?
Methods: A literature review was conducted, analyzing previous studies on local extinction, community sports research, policy reports, and regional cases using a framework centered on environmental changes, social functions, and sustainability perspectives.
Results: First, population decline weakens regional sports participation bases. Aging and shrinking populations reduce participants, increase facility maintenance burdens, and limit programs. Existing structures concentrated on specific age groups and sports reveal limitations in responding to demographic shifts.
Second, community sports can perform vital social functions amid decline. Activities promote resident interaction and relationship formation, alleviating social isolation among elderly and single-person households while strengthening community belonging and settlement consciousness as crisis response resources.
Third, three core tasks were derived: diversity expansion, accessibility enhancement, and essence restoration. Diversity expansion includes sports diversification and flexible participation methods considering life cycles, lifestyles, and abilities, transitioning from competition-centered to daily life-friendly activities. Accessibility enhancement requires living-area-centered spaces and shared facility utilization to overcome distance, cost, time, and information barriers. Essence restoration necessitates reestablishing community sports as continuously practiced community-based activities rather than short-term performance projects.
Conclusion: The local extinction crisis presents both structural challenges and reconstruction opportunities. When reorganized with diversity, accessibility, and essence as core values, sustainable community sports systems can contribute to community maintenance and quality of life improvement even in declining regions. This theoretical examination provides foundational material for future case analyses and policy research.
*Prior presentation: Presented in part at the Jeonbuk State Community Sport Promotion Seminar (2024).