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Adults reported benefits of youth sports participation in multiple areas

• Parents, school administrators, and community sports program leaders who participated in the survey perceive benefits of youth sports participation in the areas of physical health, social and emotional skills, and academics.

Perceived demand for youth sports is growing

• Youth sports participation rates are relatively high.
• Perceived demand has grown for youth sports in schools and community-based programs.

Youths from lower-income families are less likely to participate in sports

• Sports participation gaps exist between youths from lower-income families and those from middle- and higher-income families.
• Only 52 percent of parents from lower-income families reported that their student in grade 6–12 participated in sports, compared with 66 percent of middle- and higher-income families.

Fees are rising and can keep lower-income families from participating

• School administrators and community leaders in our survey noted that, in the past five years, most school sports budgets have not increased, despite rising sports fees for both school and community-based sports. This likely places the burden on families to provide additional financial support.
• Higher fees are likely more difficult for lower-income families to bear. For lower-income parents (those with a household income of less than $50,000), expense was the second-most-common reason their child did not participate in sports.

To better understand sports participation rates for middle and high school–aged youths, the funding landscape, barriers and enablers to youth sports participation, and perceptions of the benefits and challenges of youth sports, RAND researchers launched three large-scale surveys of parents, school administrators, and community sports program leaders. A separate appendix provides detailed descriptions of survey and analysis methods, additional survey results, and survey protocols.

Perceived and actual barriers for middle and high school youths who may be interested in playing sports include financial costs and family time commitments, such as volunteering and providing transportation. Lower-income families in the sample were more likely to name financial costs as a reason for not participating than were middle- and higher-income families. Schools and community-based organizations may need to examine how costs — both time based and financial — currently burdening families can be reduced or supplemented with outside sources. Schools, community sports programs, policymakers, and funders can work to lower fees, particularly for low-income students. Providing equipment and transportation and minimizing parent time commitments may have the greatest effect on increasing sports participation among youths from lower-income families.