Youth Sports Participation on the Decline | The Boneyard

Youth Sports Participation on the Decline

Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
6,651
Reaction Score
14,696

Ozzie Nelson

RIP, Ozzie
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
2,247
Reaction Score
4,604
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

bamboo lover
Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
16,734
Reaction Score
147,325
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

RIP, Ozzie
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
2,247
Reaction Score
4,604
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?
 

RockyMTblue2

Don't Look Up!
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
21,884
Reaction Score
95,784
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

bamboo lover
Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
16,734
Reaction Score
147,325
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

RIP, Ozzie
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
2,247
Reaction Score
4,604
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.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Messages
3,608
Reaction Score
11,807
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

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
974
Reaction Score
2,400
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

Don't Look Up!
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
21,884
Reaction Score
95,784
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

Don't Look Up!
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
21,884
Reaction Score
95,784
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. :D
 

KnightBridgeAZ

Grand Canyon Knight
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
5,232
Reaction Score
8,729
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.
 

Online statistics

Members online
115
Guests online
2,828
Total visitors
2,943

Forum statistics

Threads
155,802
Messages
4,032,082
Members
9,865
Latest member
Sad Tiger


Top Bottom