A recent survey conducted by NSGA identified that there are a variety of reasons for declining participation by kids in team sports. The survey identified households where kids between the ages of 7 to 17 were participating in fewer team sports than they had in the past. These households were asked the reasons for this decreased participation.
Although the results showed numerous drivers of decreased participation, there were some that had a greater tendency to rise to the top. The top response was simply "no longer liking the sport" (17% of responses). Deeper qualitative drivers of this response potentially could include reasons such as burnout, potential issues with coaches or players, or simply preferring another sport. Other reasons that rose to the top included "lack of time" (15%), "no desire or interest / lazy" (14%), "financial reasons" (13%), "shifted to individual-based activities" (9%), and "increased dedication to certain sports" (9%).
Decrease in youth participation is cause for concern given the high percentage of sporting goods purchased specifically for youths. For example, sporting goods bought for youths account for 68% of total sales for baseball, 67% for soccer, 54% for basketball, and 75% for football. The continuing challenge is to develop solutions to address these issues. At the NSGA Management Conference and Team Dealer Summit industry leaders held a brainstorming session to begin a foundation of ideas which can be built upon. In upcoming communications these ideas will be shared.
For a graphic depiction of the responses to the survey question, please click here. For further discussion, feel free to contact Dustin Dobrin, NSGA Director of Research and Information -at [email protected] or 847-296-6742, ext. 1170.