Introduction

Technological  developments,  scientific  innovations  and  accordingly,  life  expectancyof  people  have  contributed  to  the  need  and  necessity  of  pursuing  a  healthy  andqualitative  life.  Therefore,  people  are  more  in  search  of  a  better  physiological,psychological  and  social  way  of  life  than  before,  and  many  being  aware  of  these  factshave  started  doing  sports.  The  idea  of  working  out  for  a  healthy  life  began  at  thebeginning  of  20*  century,  and  scientific  studies  started  on  the  benefits  andirnportance  of  exercise  on  the  health  of  society  (Açikada  &  Ergen,  1990).Regular  participatory  sports  improve  basic  physiological  functions  of  organismand  increase  life  expectancy  as  well  as  meet  the  needs  of  socialization  and  groupmembership.  In  addition,  Erkan  (1998)  stated  that  regular  exercises  may  helpenhance  the  resistance  to  the  daily  stresses  of  life.  Great  masses  have  alwaysfavored  the  'Physical  Fitness'  exercise  programs  in  USA.  Far  Fast  countries  such  as China  and  Japan  have  been  organizing  fimess  programs  nationwide  and  pioneeredthe  healthy  society  approach.  However,  in  Turkey  the  importance  of  regularexercises  in  terms  of  health,  fimess  and  mental  health  has  not  been  yet  fullyrealized.  It  takes  too  much  time  and  effort  to  establish  concepts  like  "life  longsports'  or  'exercise  in  every  period  and  age'  (Ekenci  &  Imamoglu,  2002).Private  sports  centers  are  among  institutions  having  important  roles  in  makingsports  widespread  throughout  for  any  person  in  the  society  regardless  of  their age,gender,  education  level  and some  physical  capacities  as well  as making  sports  a  lifelong  concept.  Therefore,  having  these  responsibilities  and  functions,  private  sportscenters  are  expected  to  suffice  in  serving  the  individualistic  purpose  of  use  (Uz,2001).  In  our  contemporary  world,  doing  stress  free  and  healthily  sports  requiresexercising  in healthy  places,  with  a  well-trained  management  and staff.  Intensity andfrequency  of  the  exercises  should  be planned  accordingly;  one  should  also  considerthe  recommendations  of  the  experts.  A  check-up  should  be  required  for  all  beforestarting  workouts,  individuals  should  not  exceed  their  physical  capacities  and  limits(Erkan,  1998; Ekenci  &  Imamoglu,  2002).The  purpose  of this  study  is to determine  the operative  problems  of  private  step-aerobic  and  fitness  sport  facilities  and to  find  proper  solutions  to  these  problems.In  Turkey,  the lack  of  state  run sports  centers  led to the establishment  of  privateones.  Even  the  efficiency  and  quality  of  service  at  private  sports  centers  possiblyaffect  the continuity  and habit  formation  of  participatory  sports.  Therefore,  problemsrelated  to  'quality  control  and  guarantee,'  'health  services,'  'public  relations,'  and'recruitment  of  staff'  in  aerobics  and  fimess  centers  in  Ankara  were  defined  andsolutions  proposed.  Participatory  sports  in  healthy  conditions  could  affect  theindividual  positively  and  makes  one  form  the  habit  of  attending  regularly  to  theactivities  provided  by  the  facilities.  This  will  lead  to  an  increase  in  the  number  ofpeople  doing  sports  and help  create  healthy  new generations.  Consequently,  analysisand  solutions  for  the  current  conditions  at  the  private  centers  should  be  handledseriously  at  the  right  time."

Methods

At  the very  beginning,  this  research  targeted  56 directors  of private  step-  aerobicand  fimess  sports  facilities  in Ankara.  However,  only  51 directors  were  available  for this  study  as  for  a  variety  of  reasons,  five  directors  could  not  participate.Having  examined  the  related  literature,  questionnaires  were  prepared  under  theprovision  of  experts  to  determine  the  level  of  operative  issues  of  privatestep-aerobic  and  fitness  centers.  The  questionnaire  was  formed  in  accordance  withthe  'Private  Physical  Education  and  Sports  Regulations'  of  Directorate  of  Youth  andSports  (General  Directorate  for  Youth  and  Sports,  1999),The  questionnaire  consists  of  three  parts;  firstly  personal  information  of  theprivate  sports  center  directors;  secondly,  the  proportion  of  experience  in  years  totheir  use  of  private  sports  centers,  and  lastly  information  on  private  sport  center'sappropriate  usage,1.1,  Findings  on  the  use  of  quality  assurance  systems  in  private  sports  centers,1.2,  Findings  on  staff  recruitment  and  necessary  qualifications,1.3,  Findings  on  customer  service,1.4,  Findings  on  the  organization  of  health  services  in  sports  facilities,1.5,  Findings  on  the  formation  of  human  relations  in  sports  facilities.

As  seeti  in  Table  I.A.  nearly  half  of  the  directors  (49.0%)  are  aged  30-34  andmost  of  them  are  college  gradtiates  (84.3).  As  seen  in  Table  l.B.  Out  of  collegegraduates,  31.3  % (16)  are  from  the  department  of  Physical  Education  and  Sports.Moreover,  88.2%  of  the  directors  indicated  that  they  have  done  sports  beforeespecially  basketball  (23.6%).

Table  2  shows  that  most  of  the  sports  centers  (29.4%)  operated  for  3  to  4  years(27.5%).  There  are  not  many  facilities  operating  for  a  long  time-  7  or  8  years(3.9%).  Table  2  shows  that  the  number  of  active  customers  (members)  in  the sportscenters  range  mostly  between  0-250.  The  number  of  private  sports  centers  havingmore  than  500  members  is  qtiite  low  (20.8%).

Results  and  Discussion

Director  profiles  of  the  private  sports  centers  (step-  aerobic  and  fitness  centers)in  Ankara  show  that  most  of  them  are  well-educated,  middle-aged  people.  However,only  31.4  % of  the  directors  (see  Tahle  l.A  &  B)  are  Physical  Education  and  Sportsgraduates.  Having  Physical  Education  and  Sports  graduates  increases  the  quality  ofservice  positively  and  provides  scientific  and  healthy  sports  service.  On  the  otherhand,  six  (11.8%)  of  the  directors  (see  Table  2)  participating  in  this  study  havenever  done  sports.  Directors  that  have  never  done  sports  working  in  the  field  ofsports  may  have  problems  in  operating  the  facilities.  Nevertheless,  the  staff  shotildhave  an  educational  background  in  this  field.  The  need  for  the  experienced  and  welleducated  staff  is  as  important  as  the  personnel  serving  at  the  sports  centers(Alexandris  et  al,  1999).The  findings  reveal  that  when  general  conditions  of  the  sports  centers  areanalyzed,  some  issues  have  been  determined  after  the  general  conditions  of  theprivate  sports  centers.  Most  of  the  private  sports  centers  do  not  use  qualityassurance  systems;  they  are  not  properly  licensed.  Furthermore,  they  do  not  haveresearch  and  development  units  or  staff  to  improve  the  quality  assurance  system.Karakoca  et  al.(2002)  declared  similar  findings  in  their  study;  private  sports  centersdo  not  make  any  effort  to  enhance  the  quality  of  the  facilities  and  to  get  ISO  9001and  ISO  9002  licenses.  Not  many  sports  centers  (21.6%)  attempt  to  establishresearch  and  development  units,  and  if  so,  they  do  not  have  the  qualified  staff  for the  research  and  development  units.  Nearly  half  of  the  staff  (see  Table  3)  does  notenroll  in  in-service  training.  Nevertheless,  in  order  to  keep  up  with  newdevelopments  along  with  the  technological  improvements,  and  to  implement  these  insportive  environments,  the  staff  should  be  well-informed  and  educated  for  higherquality  service.  Although  most  of  the  private  sports  centers  have  potentialpurchasing  unit  staff,  they  do  not  have  purchasing  units.  This  might  be  because  ofthe  lack  of  coordination  between  directors  and  purchasing  staff  leading  to  someproblems.  Therefore,  sports  equipments  that  are  quite  expensive  are  purchased  underthe  provision  of  directors  or  considering  the  financial  situation  ignoring  the  needs  ofcustomers  (members).  Karakoca  et  al.(2002)  found  similar  findings  in  their  smdy:Three-fourths  (72.5)  of  the  directors  are  insensitive  about  health  issues.  There  isneither  a  doctor  available  in  case  of  an  emergency  health  problem,  a  medical  unitwithin  the  facilities,  nor  a  cooperating  medical  institution.  It  is  obvious  that  in  caseof  a  health  problems,  these  sports  centers  will  be  helpless.  However,  any  possibleminor  health  problem  should  be  handled  immediately  in  these  sports  facilities  whereinjuries  or  health  problems  are  most  likely  to  occur.  In  his  study,  Uz  (2001)  reaehedsimilar  findings:  Private  sports  centers  should  give  more  importance  to  health  issuesand  it  is  necessary  to  keep  a  doctor  or  health  persormel  within  the  facilities.35.3  %  (18)  of  the  private  sports  centers  stated  establishing  public  relationsunits.  The  main  duty  of  the  public  relations  department  is  to  have  mutual  relationswdth  the  public.  Thus,  it  is  effective  in  broadening  the  scope  of  sportive  activitiesthroughout  society.  (Ekenci  &  Imamoglu,  2002).  On  the  other  hand,  most  of  thedirectors  (96.1%)  declared  that  they  consider  the  needs  and  suggestions  of  thecustomers  (members)  (Table  3).  Thus  finding  the  reason  for  this  should  beexplained.Nearly  half  of  the  private  sports  center  directors  (43  %)  participating  in  thisstudy  stated  that  they  organize  social  activities  as  well  as  sportive  activities.  Thesefindings  are  significant  as  they  contribute  to  sportive  service  quality  positively.  Theservice  quality  provided  can  be  an  effective  factor  even  for  customer  decisions  inpurchasing  the  service  (Howat  et  al.,  1996).Considering  these  findings,  we  may  suggest  the  following:-  There  must  be  a  doctor  or  health  personnel  readily  available  at  sports  centers.-  In  order  to  provide  quality  service,  the  staff  should  frequently  participate  inin-service  trainings.\-  Public  relations  are  of  importance  to  provide  better  sportive  service.  Thus,public  relations  shotild  be  given  importance  at  sports  centers,-  To  provide  services  of  improved  standards  and  for  the  sake  of  productivity,qtiality  control  and  assurance  should  be  highly  emphasized.

References

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