This study examined motor competence, grit, and physical literacy as determinants of active lifestyle participation among university students. A quantitative cross-sectional correlational research design was employed to determine the relationships among the variables. The respondents consisted of 150 first-year undergraduate students from selected academic programs at Western Mindanao State University, chosen through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a motor skill performance test battery to measure motor competence, the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) to assess perseverance toward long-term goals, a physical literacy questionnaire, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Short Form (IPAQ-SF) to determine active lifestyle participation. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the levels of the variables, while Pearson Product–Moment Correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine their relationships and predictive influence. The results revealed that students demonstrated moderate to high levels of motor competence, moderate levels of grit, and moderately high levels of physical literacy, while their participation in active lifestyle behaviors was classified as moderately active. The findings also showed significant positive relationships between motor competence and active lifestyle participation and between grit and active lifestyle participation. Furthermore, regression analysis indicated that motor competence, grit, and physical literacy significantly predict active lifestyle participation, with physical literacy emerging as the strongest predictor among the variables. These findings highlight the importance of promoting movement competence, perseverance, and physical literacy to encourage sustainable physical activity participation among university students.