The Aspen Institute issued its latest State of Play on youth sports in America. No doubt the pandemic has hit youth sports hard, even among kids who used to participate.
"One big problem the study uncovered is that 29 percent of kids say they are no longer interested in playing sports. These aren’t kids who sat on the couch all day: They are kids who used to play sports before the pandemic. That’s higher than the 18 percent who said they didn’t want to go back to sports at the beginning of the pandemic.
So the bad news is that kids are playing less, and some kids are thinking of staying on the sidelines.
The good news is that people at the Aspen Institute and other places are working on solutions. They suggest youth sports should recognize the right of every kid to play, not just the so-called “stars.” And everyone should support local community sports organizations for kids instead of expensive travel leagues.
The pandemic has changed a lot of things. Maybe it will change kids’ sports for the better."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...mments-wrapper
For soccer the news continues to be less than ideal - while there was an ever so slight increase 2018-19 in participation, the sport is still less popular than it was ten years ago. The drop in kids 6-12 is definitely not good news.
% playing outdoor soccer 2008 vs 2019
Ages 6-12 10.4% 7.7%
Ages 13-17 7.9% 3.1%
"One big problem the study uncovered is that 29 percent of kids say they are no longer interested in playing sports. These aren’t kids who sat on the couch all day: They are kids who used to play sports before the pandemic. That’s higher than the 18 percent who said they didn’t want to go back to sports at the beginning of the pandemic.
So the bad news is that kids are playing less, and some kids are thinking of staying on the sidelines.
The good news is that people at the Aspen Institute and other places are working on solutions. They suggest youth sports should recognize the right of every kid to play, not just the so-called “stars.” And everyone should support local community sports organizations for kids instead of expensive travel leagues.
The pandemic has changed a lot of things. Maybe it will change kids’ sports for the better."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...mments-wrapper
For soccer the news continues to be less than ideal - while there was an ever so slight increase 2018-19 in participation, the sport is still less popular than it was ten years ago. The drop in kids 6-12 is definitely not good news.
% playing outdoor soccer 2008 vs 2019
Ages 6-12 10.4% 7.7%
Ages 13-17 7.9% 3.1%
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