Why Zumba?
This study was conducted to determine the reasons behind the students’ preferring an activity that would teach them how to perform and teach Zumba effectively and safely as a leisure activity and to what extent the activity met their expectations. The Subjects:This qualitative research consisted of 22 face to face interviews with students of the Rumeli University Faculty of Sport Sciences, Coaching Education, Sports Management and Recreation departments. Materials and Method:The participants were selected with the convenience sampling method and consisted of 16 women and 6 men between the ages of 18-22 years. The Zumba event included 8 one hour Zumba classes given by a specialist in this area. The data was coded separately by two researchers and the consistency rate was found to be 75 percent. Descriptive and content analysis was used and transferred to NVIVO 10 software for data analysis. The themes of reasons for participating in and expectations of students from the Zumba classes that resulted from the interviews conducted prior to and following the event were collected and evaluated. Conclusions: As a result of the data analysis prior to the event, the desire to become a specialist, adding another dimension to their specialty, being ready to branch out, importance future planning, increased financial expectation and popularity of Zumbaemerged as the leading themes in choosing Zumba. The participant’s thoughts after the event were that their initial expectations were met and extra themes of health protection and entertainment were added as gains from the event.