Impact of Dominant Culture in Ritual-Heritage Sports on the Development of Social Capital of Urban Communities (Case study: Zurkhaneh sport and wrestling in Khorasan Razavi province)

The role of sports in the identity, role modeling, socialization and normalization of adolescents and young people is undeniable. The purpose of this study was the impact of culture in ritual-heritage sports on the development of social capital of urban communities .The statistical population of the study included officials,veterans, coaches and athletes, as well as those interested in zurkhaneh and wrestling programs and competitions and university professors in Khorasan Razavi province, total 758 people who used Morgan's table formula 260people were selected by simple random sampling who answered the questions through an electronic questionnaire.The nature of the present study was applied and in terms of analysis method was descriptive-correlational research which was done using structural equation method. The required data were collected using a standard 13-item questionnaire of social capital of Nahapit and Goshal and researcher-made 9-item questionnaire of dominant culture of heritage-ritual sports.After confirmation of face and content validity by experts and structural validity by AVE index and instrument reliability coefficient by Cronbach's alpha test, Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data with the help of SPSS22 and Smart PLS2 statistical software. Path coefficients and model fit indices showed that the prevailing culture in heritage-ritual sports has a significant effect on the development of social capital of urban communities.Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that heritage-ritual sports can be used as a means to establish friendly relations and new social relations,especially between different classes of urban society in terms of religion and ethnicity.