Youth Sports Participation on the Decline

[Charliebball]

Per Raul:

Youth sports study: Declining participation, rising costs and unqualified coaches

 

[eebmg]

Per Raul:

Youth sports study: Declining participation, rising costs and unqualified coaches

Solution is simple. Since this trend is strongly correlated to household income. simply increase the number of households earning more than 100,000 dollars.

 

[Sonny44]

Per Raul:

Youth sports study: Declining participation, rising costs and unqualified coaches

Solution is simple. Since this trend is strongly correlated household income. simply increase the number of households earning more than 100,000 dollars.

Probably a good thing. Our society has gone way overboard on sports, IMO. A huge part of the fantasy world we set up for our kids.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

My four grand kids(5-10) participate in varied athletics....soccer, baseball, swimming, gymnastics. and hockey. Parents are on the go 7 days a week. Keys are functioning family ties, financial commitment, and strong desire for the kids to play the sport(s) of their choice.

 

[oldude]

This has been a trend for some time. It is partly associated with schools dropping PE classes, kids spending too much time in front of the TV and with video games and the general trend that kids only play sports that are organized with parental involvement.

Growing up in CT, I played ball (football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc.) just about every day, sometimes all day, and very few of those games were organized. Just a bunch of kids getting together to play ball.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

This has been a trend for some time. It is partly associated with schools dropping PE classes, kids spending too much time in front of the TV and with video games and the general trend that kids only play sports that are organized with parental involvement.

Growing up in CT, I played ball (football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc.) just about every day, sometimes all day, and very few of those games were organized. Just a bunch of kids getting together to play ball.

Did you walk to school uphill both ways?

 

[oldude]

Did you walk to school uphill both ways?

It was just after horses were replaced by a new fangled contraption called an "automobile." But I did walk to both elementary school & jr HS. No hills. Drove to HS.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Shocking that cell phone video games have not reversed this trend!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Did you walk to school uphill both ways?

Didn't you? I thought we all did. In my case the snow was in my face in the morning and in the afternoon. You left your galoshes in a drafty cloak room, so they never dried or go warm. On the way to school I got to wear the mitten I shared with my older brother, but he wore it home. Did make you tough though, right olddude, Ozzie?

 

[oldude]

Didn't you? I thought we all did. In my case the snow was in my face in the morning and in the afternoon. You left your galoshes in a drafty cloak room, so they never dried or go warm. On the way to school I got to wear the mitten I shared with my older brother, but he wore it home. Did make you tough though, right olddude, Ozzie?

You left out that we usually had to catch dinner on the way home from school if we wanted something to eat. That's one of the reasons why nobody in my neighborhood could own a cat...

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Didn't you? I thought we all did. In my case the snow was in my face in the morning and in the afternoon. You left your galoshes in a drafty cloak room, so they never dried or go warm. On the way to school I got to wear the mitten I shared with my older brother, but he wore it home. Did make you tough though, right olddude, Ozzie?

I was born a wuss.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I would have thought that football participation would have fallen much further, especially relative to other sports. But those data suggest that it hasn't. Surprised to see soccer participation declining; it seems as though popularity is increasing.

Wonder how much of declines in soccer and football stem from concerns about brain injury?

 

[CBus13]

This has been a trend for some time. It is partly associated with schools dropping PE classes, kids spending too much time in front of the TV and with video games and the general trend that kids only play sports that are organized with parental involvement.

Growing up in CT, I played ball (football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc.) just about every day, sometimes all day, and very few of those games were organized. Just a bunch of kids getting together to play ball.

I hate to break it to you. But a lot of studies show that teens and kids now are watching less TV on average than they did back in 2011. Whether it be because more parents are imposing more restrictions on tv use or what. (My niece and nephews aren't allowed to watch tv during the weekdays unless it's a big sports event.) The State of Traditional TV: Updated With Q1 2017 Data - Marketing Charts

Also, the average age of gamers in the world right now is around 35. Mainly, because they grew up when video game consoles came out. Women over the age of 18 play more video games than Males under the age of 18. 31% to 17%. 2017 Video Game Trends and Statistics - Who's Playing What and Why? | Big Fish Blog

The OP article is only discussing organized sports...so kids getting together at the basketball court wouldn't be counted towards these statistics.

I think it's also worth considering youth sports as you would any industry and not just as a community sports league thing. The youth sports industry is now a $15 Billion industry and it has exponential growth over the last 7 years (55% growth since 2010). When an industry has a boom of a grand scale, it has a period where it balances out and the growth putters to a stop or even to a negative growth. How Kids’ Sports Became a $15 Billion Industry

But with all that money in the industry there are more and more private club's that claim to offer top-tiered training to prepare for college/pro athletics and so people think they need to spend more money to get their kid ready so they are walking away from little league and community leagues that are cheaper with the hopes their child will be the next big star. Meaning, the kids who can't afford the private leagues are left to the more affordable leagues where lesser talent or newer to the sport kids are forced to go and they all get discouraged because they don't see themselves as being able to compete with the kids on the select (more expensive) leagues. There is too much pressure on kids nowadays to be some standout immediately and so they have less time to develop their confidence and skill-level so they quit.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

You left out that we usually had to catch dinner on the way home from school if we wanted something to eat. That's one of the reasons why nobody in my neighborhood could own a cat...

O'Kay, you're the winner. LMOAO

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Some day I'll tell you how I beat a teenage bully bloody with my Roy Rogers lunch pail. Man up @Ozzie Nelson. Not too late.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

This has been a trend for some time. It is partly associated with schools dropping PE classes, kids spending too much time in front of the TV and with video games and the general trend that kids only play sports that are organized with parental involvement.

Growing up in CT, I played ball (football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc.) just about every day, sometimes all day, and very few of those games were organized. Just a bunch of kids getting together to play ball.

As another poster indicated, it probably isn't TV and video games. It is, I think, however, connected to some degree with cell phones and youth's constantly being on the cell phones, whether communicating with each other or binge-watching shows or whatever else it is that they do.