The purpose of this study is to provide data for promoting elders’ welfare by empirically analyzing the effects of elderly people’s experience of recreational sports participation and leisure competence on the satisfaction with quality of life, in order to improve their health and physical strength as well as to help them have mental, social, and emotional stability. One-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis are applied to the study with 372 people of elderly participants and the results are as follows:
First, according to the analysis of difference in the level of satisfaction with quality of life in terms of individual characteristics, there were significant differences in satisfaction depending on wealth and health conditions, not gender. Men had higher satisfaction with quality of life than women. The group with more wealth had higher satisfaction than the group with less wealth. The group with top level of health condition had the highest satisfaction, and then come the group with medium level of health condition and low level of health condition in order.
Second, according to the analysis of difference in the level of satisfaction with quality of life in terms of experience of sports participation, there were significant differences in satisfaction depending on sports type, sports career, number of days of participation per week, and number of hours of participation per day. Competition sports type had the highest satisfaction, and then come rhythmic movement type, outdoor sports type, and training sports type in that order. The group with longer period of sports career had higher satisfaction than the group with shorter period of sports career. The group with more days of participation per week had higher satisfaction than the group with less days of participation per week. The group with more hours of participation per day had higher satisfaction than the group with less hours of participation per day.
Third, according to the analysis on the effects of leisure competence of elderly participants in recreational sports upon satisfaction with quality of life, all the sub-variables of leisure competence have significant effects on all the sub-variables of satisfaction with quality of life.
Consequently, acknowledging the fact that elderly people’s experience of recreational sports participation and their leisure competence contribute to the satisfaction with quality of life, both administrative authorities in charge of elders’ welfare and leisure sports instructors should make their best efforts with positive PR activities in encouraging elderly people to actively participate in recreational sports for their healthy life of later years.