![]() ![]() ![]() "If you go to any high school coach whose numbers are down, they'll point to sport specialization," said Cove, noting the trend of youth athletes being asked to play a single sport nearly year-round as early as grade school. Last year, that number fell to 3.21 million, down from 3.25 million in 2014.Ĭove said he recognizes the safety concerns but notes that other factors are placing pressure on football's numbers. In 2009, 3.96 million youth ages 6-17 played tackle football. Core participation was at 9 percent in 2011, during the recession, but it hasn't recovered.Īcross the board, in the 6-12 and 13-17 age groups, participation in football on a regular and casual basis is down since 2009, before the risks of youth playing the game began to grow, partly due to research findings and a number of former NFL players saying they would keep their kids from football or delay their entry into tackle until adolescence. Among teenagers ages 13-17 who are core participants, tackle football saw a drop in both total numbers and in share of the population playing the game between 2014 (1.631 million, 7.5 percent) and '15 (1.566 million, 7.1 percent). There is evidence of declining interest once adolescence hits. Only one in four kids play occasionally now, down from one in three in 2010. Throwing a football in the backyard with friends on an occasional basis can pique interest and lead to signing up for a league as children move toward high school. As a share of the age 6-12 population, the total participation rate remained the same as the past year, 4.2 percent.įurther, taking the biggest hit in recent years is casual participation, which has long been considered important to building the pipeline for the game. in 2007 - they are now around age 8, when communities begin to offer tackle football. There are caveats to the bump in numbers, however.Ī record 4.3 million children were born in the U.S. These are the children typically involved in organized tackle leagues, in which there were an estimated 991,000 youth involved last year, up 3.3 percent from 2014 and not far from the pre-recession levels of 1 million-plus. The most engaged children are "core participants," which SFIA defines as anyone who plays football 26 or more times during the year. "If you look at the last four years, the numbers have been relatively stable, particularly in the, which is the most objective measure of parents making decisions about their children playing the sport in a serious way." "One year does not make a trend, but it's a good sign," said Tom Cove, CEO of SFIA. Sport leaders have become more attuned to participation rates in recent years, in part due to research showing that youth who play a sport are more likely than nonparticipants to become fans of it, as those affinities extend into adulthood. Participation in flag football within that age group saw a slightly larger jump, from 1.086 million to 1.142 million. Youth football participation increases in 2015 teen involvement down, data showsĪfter years of increasing safety concerns from parents brought on by greater awareness about risks of brain and other injuries, football leaders finally have good news to celebrate: a modest, one-year jump in the number of children playing the game.Ī total of 1.23 million youth ages 6-12 played tackle football in 2015, up from 1.216 million the year before, according to data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, which commissions an annual survey of participation rates in United States households across a range of sports. All rights reserved.You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |