Participation in School Athletics
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Headline

Since 1991, the gender gap in school sports participation has declined among eighth, tenth and twelfth grade students. For example, for twelfth graders, the gender gap shrank from 18 percentage points in 1991 to nine percentage points in 2006. (See Figure 1)

Importance

School athletic teams provide enjoyable, supervised activities for youth. Student athletes report healthier eating habits, increased parental support, and decreased anxiety and depression.^1,2 Furthermore, a recent national study has shown a positive association between participating in school sports and lower rates of tobacco, drug, and alcohol use (though a higher level of smokeless tobacco use was reported).³ Youth who participate in sports were also more likely to disapprove of their peers' substance abuse.⁴

In addition, participating in sports is associated with higher levels of self-esteem and motivation, overall psychological well-being, and better body image for girls.⁵ Some research efforts, however, have not found these positive relationships for some groups of youth, finding, for example, higher rates of alcohol use for some groups of youth who participate in school sports activities.^6,7,8

Moreover, for varied reasons, participation in athletics has a positive association with academic achievement. High school athletes were found to have higher GPAs than non-athletes, lower absentee levels, a significantly smaller percentage of discipline referrals, lower percentages of dropout, and higher graduation rates.^9,10

Trends

Between 1991 and 2006, school athletics participation in the eighth grade declined from 70 percent to 63 percent. Tenth grade athletic participation during this time fluctuated between 60 and 63 percent. Participation in school athletics did not change significantly for twelfth graders between 1991 and 2006, and was at 54 percent in 2006. (See Table 1)

Differences by Gender

Since 1991, the gender gap in school sports participation has declined among eighth, tenth and twelfth grade students. In eighth grade the current gap is 3 percentage points, down from 7 percentage points in 1991. Among tenth graders, the male advantage declined from 17 percentage points in 1991 to nine percentage points in 2006. For twelfth graders, the gender gap also shrank to nine percentage points in 2006, down from 18 percentage points in 1991. (See Figure 1).

Differences by Parental Education

Teens with highly educated parents are far more likely than those whose parents completed fewer years of school to participate in school sports. For example, among tenth grade students, 43 percent of those whose parents did not complete high school participated in school sports in 2006, compared with 74 percent of those with a parent who had attended graduate school. (See Figure 2)

Differences by College Plans

Youth who say that they plan to complete four years of college are more likely than other youth to participate in school athletics. For example, in 2006, 57 percent of twelfth graders who planned to complete four years of college participated in school athletics compared with 44 percent of twelfth grade students who did not have such plans. (See Figure 3)

Related Indicators

Vigorous Physical Activity By Youth, Overweight Children and Youth

State and Local Estimates

2005 estimates for student participation in any sports teams (including those outside of school) are available for selected states and cities from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5302a1.htm#tab57

International Estimates

Though there are no available international estimates of school sports participation, there are estimates for physical exercise available from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children Study at http://www.hbsc.org/. (See Figures 7.1 and 7.2)

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National Goals

The Healthy People 2010 initiative includes four goals directly related to increasing physical exercise among children and adolescents. Additional information available at: http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/document/HTML/Volume2/22Physical.htm#_Toc490380803

What Works: Programs and Interventions that May Influence this Indicator

Click here to view examples of programs and interventions that research has evaluated for this indicator. View programs

Research References

¹Harrison, Patricia A., Narayan, Gopalakrishnan. (March 2003). Differences in Behavior, Psychological Factors, and Environmental Factors Associated with Participation in School Sports and Other Activities in Adolescence. Journal of School Health, 73(3). Abstract available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12677730&dopt=Abstract.

²Action for Healthy Kids. (Fall, 2004). The Learning Connection: The Value of Improving Nutrition and Physical Activity in Our Schools. Executive Summary. Available online: http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/special_exclusive.php

³Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2001). Summary of Findings from the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA Series: H-13, DHHS Publication No. SMA 01-3549). Rockville, MD: Author. Available online: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NHSDA/2kNHSDA/2kNHSDA.htm

⁴Ibid.

⁵ American Psychological Association. Get the facts: Sports lift esteem in young athletes. Available: http://www.apahelpcenter.org/articles/article.php?id=18

⁶Taylor, M.J. (August, 2001). "Sports Participation, Delinquency, and Substance Use Among Rural African American Girls." Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA. Abstract available online: http://www.apa.org/releases/sportinvolvement.html

⁷Eccles, J. S., & Barber, B. L. (1999). Student council, volunteering, basketball, or marching band: What kind of extracurricular involvement matters? Journal of Adolescent Research, 14, 10-43.

⁸Eitle, David, Turner, R. Jay, Eitle, Tamela McNulty. (Winter 2003). The Deterrence Hypothesis Reexamined: Sports Participation And Substance Use Among Young Adults. Journal of Drug Issues 33(1), 193-222.

⁹Whitley, Roger L. (Apr-May, 1999). Those 'dumb jocks' are at it again: A comparison of the educational performances of athletes and nonathletes in North Carolina high schools from 1993 through 1996. High School Journal. 82(4), 223-233.

¹⁰Jergovic, Diana. (July, 2001).The impact of athletic participation on the academic achievement of American adolescents. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering. 62(1-B), 576.

Definition

Participation in school athletics includes all students who have participated to any degree in school athletic teams during the current school year.

Data Source

Child Trends analysis of Monitoring the Future Survey data 1991-2006

Raw Data Source

Bachman, Jerald G., Lloyd D. Johnston, and Patrick M. O'Malley. Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th, 10th, and 12th-Grade Surveys), 1976-2006 [Computer files]. Conducted by University of Michigan, Survey Research Center. ICPSR ed. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor].
ICPSR: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu
Monitoring the Future: http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/

Approximate Date of Next Update

November 2008

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