Sports
Youth sports participation on the rise
But there are some of the challenging data points that appeared in 2024
The Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program analyzes the state of play for youth in the country each year via the values of its well-known initiative, Project Play.
The purpose of the study helps leaders build healthy communities through sports. Since the COVID pandemic in 2020, the state of play has constantly evolved.
In the study administered through the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Survey of Children’s Health shows 53.8 percent of youth ages 6 through 17 played sports in 2022, the first year considered post-pandemic.
The survey asked parents if their child played on a team or took lessons after school or on weekends. The resulting data hopes to help the nation reach its public health goal of 63 percent by 2030.
Iowa is doing a great job promoting youth playing sports. Iowa, Vermont and North Dakota lead the way among U.S. states for participation. Vermont reached 69 percent, Iowa 68 percent and North Dakota 67 percent. All are rural in nature and are less densely populated. Many high schools serve just a few hundred students which discourages cuts to teams because rosters need to be filled.
A household survey by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association showed a 6 percent one-year uptick of children ages six through 17 regularly participated in a team sports in 2023, the highest rate of 39.8 percent since 2015.
Despite this good news, youth sports remain in a rapid-changing condition, disrupted by technology (i.e. AI), the pro leagues-driven growth of such sports as flag football, and NCAA-driven policies like NIL’s cash and influence.
Then you add Iowa’s own Caitlin Clark’s inspiration for girls, investments by private companies, and the impact on the health of athletes and the sports offerings due to extreme weather conditions caused by climate change.
The state-of-play report cites climate change as affecting the safety of young athletes. Providers need to invest more in safety, such as heat-related illnesses. The Associated Press found only a quarter of states have comprehensive heat policies and require the use of wet-bulb blob temperature, the best way to measure stress because it includes air temperature, humidity, direct sunlight and wind to determine if it’s too hot to play.
Here are some of the challenging data points that appeared in 2024:
* Fewer boys are playing sports. In 2013, half of boys ages six to 17 participated regularly in sports, only 41 percent in 2023. Girls ages six through 12 (34 percent) and 13 through 17 (38 percent) played at higher levels in 2023 than in any recent year dating to at least 2012.
* Black children are playing sports less than they once did, Hispanic children are playing more. Only 35 percent of Black kids ages six to 17 participated in sports during 2023, down from 45 percent in 2013, when Black children played at a higher rate that white kids. White, Hispanic and Asian children played sports more frequently in 2023. Participation by Hispanics increased 14 percent in 2023 to its highest level since 2016.
* Children are specializing in one sport more following the pandemic. The average number of kids ages six to 17 playing in 2023 was 1.63, down 13 percent since 2019. Over a decade ago, children used to average more than two sports played.
Obviously, youth sports data will continue to shift due to societal trends, financial stresses and availability of offerings. It’s clear, however, gender, race and location will have a huge impact on participation. I plan in the next several columns to provide further information from the latest State-of-Play study.
Nancy Justis is a former competitive swimmer and college sports information director. She is a partner with Justis Creative Communications and the founder of Iowa Youth Sports Initiative. Contact her at najustis120150@gmail.com