Sports participation declining among kids, study finds

By STEPHEN THORNE The Canadian Press
Wed. Jun 4 - 4:33 AM

OTTAWA — Fewer kids — especially boys — are signing up for organized sports these days, a new study suggests.

The Statistics Canada report, released Tuesday, compared children’s participation rates for 1992 and 2005, and found a significant drop, with levels especially low in larger centres.

The report also found participation in ever-more-expensive sports rose with household incomes and parents’ education.

Jean Cote, an expert on the social psychology of sport at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., said the findings were expected.

"Sport has to compete for children’s time with computers, with video games, with TV and with a lot of other activities," Cote said in an interview.

"There’s a limited amount of time in children’s lives and very often the pastimes that will win the battle are those that create the most fun. We need to think about how we can make sport fun."

And that’s where overbearing parents and society as whole are letting children down, Cote suggests.

Whether it comes in the form of pressure to perform or local bylaws banning street hockey, circumstances are creating obstacles to sports participation among children, he says.

Organized sport aside, children are increasingly drifting away from their most creative — and sports-addictive — activities, namely pickup games that have traditionally fostered a love and talent for sport.

"Very often we over-organize sport," Cote said. "Children are not necessarily interested in competition. They’re interested in going out and being creative and having fun."

The StatsCan study examined participation trends among about two million children aged five to 14 between 1992 and 2005.

Soccer was the most frequently reported sport for both boys and girls in 2005, replacing swimming.

In 2005, 51 per cent of children regularly took part in organized sports during the 12 months prior to the survey, down from 57 per cent in 1992.

The study found that boys were still more likely to participate in organized sports than girls the same age, but the gap between them had narrowed.

In 1992, 66 per cent of boys were active participants; this had declined to 56 per cent by 2005. Boys’ participation decreased across the board, but it was more age-dependent among girls.

Eleven- to 14-year-old girls were less likely to play sports than in 1992 while the participation rate among younger girls remained virtually constant.

Children from higher income households or with more-educated parents were far more likely to participate in organized sports than those from lower-income or less-educated families.

The study found that 68 per cent of children in the highest income households participated in organized sports, compared with only 44 per cent of children in the lowest income households.

About 60 per cent of children with a parent with a university degree played organized sports, compared with 42 per cent of children whose parents had a high-school diploma.

Cote says the cost of organized sport — equipment, registration, transportation — is a key factor.

Participation rates were highest in Atlantic Canada (61 per cent) and lowest in British Columbia (44) and Quebec (48).

At 47 per cent, rates were low in Canada’s three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. At 58 per cent, rates were highest in cities and towns with populations between 10,000 and 50,000.

Cote says that’s consistent with U.S., Australian and Canadian studies that have all shown a disproportionately high percentage of elite athletes come from small towns.

Organized sport is safer, cheaper and more accessible in smaller areas, he said, while they also tend to provide fewer distractions and more supportive environments.

Said Cote: "The integration of family, school and community in smaller towns would probably be very beneficial for the participation of kids in sport."

’There’s a limited amount of time in children’s lives and very often the pastimes that will win the battle are those that create the most fun. We need to think about how we can make sport fun.’

jean coteQueen’s University