Statistics on Youth Sports Participation (2025)

The most recent data from the National Survey of Children's Health(opens in new tab) and the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) shows record participation, but the gaps remain stubborn.

The 65% "tried at least once" figure from 2024 represents the highest casual participation rate the SFIA has tracked since at least 2012. This surge includes children who played a sport for even a single day over the previous 12 months. The 55.4% organized participation rate is a more conservative measure: it counts children on teams or in lessons, and it's the benchmark most researchers use.

What These Numbers Include

Youth sports statistics vary between sources because they measure different things. "Regular participation" (weekly or monthly activity) produces lower numbers than "tried at least once." League registration data captures fewer athletes than parent-reported surveys. The statistics here use the broadest credible measures available from the SFIA and Project Play, which include school teams, recreation leagues, club programs, and organized lessons.

We break down which sports rank highest in our guide to the most popular youth sports in America.

Six years of data reveal disruption, recovery, and uneven progress. The table below shows how organized participation rates shifted year by year, based on NSCH data compiled by the Aspen Institute(opens in new tab).

The COVID-19 Disruption

The pandemic shut youth sports down, and changed what came back. The official 2020 participation figure (~54%) comes from the CDC's National Health Interview Survey(opens in new tab), but because the 12-month reference period includes January and February — before shutdowns began — the true in-pandemic rate was almost certainly lower. When leagues shut down in spring 2020, millions of children lost access to organized athletics overnight. Community recreation programs, school teams, and travel leagues all went dark. Some families found alternatives (backyard training, small-group sessions), but many, particularly in lower-income communities, simply stopped playing.

The recovery that began in 2021 was uneven. Wealthier families bounced back faster, often through private clubs and travel teams that resumed earlier. Public recreation programs and school-based leagues took longer to rebuild. This gap in recovery speed widened the income disparity in youth sports that had already been growing before the pandemic.

Post-Pandemic Trends

By 2023, overall participation had not only recovered but exceeded pre-pandemic levels. According to the SFIA's 2024 Topline Report(opens in new tab), several factors drove this rebound:

• Pent-up demand: Families who delayed sports during lockdowns enrolled children in multiple activities
• Girls' participation surge: Girls ages 6-12 reached their highest regular participation rate since 2012, and girls ages 13-17 followed the same trend
• Flag football expansion: The only major team sport to show consistent growth in regular participation (+14% since 2019), fueled by NFL initiatives and Olympic inclusion for 2028
• Latino youth growth: 65% of Latino youth ages 6-17 tried sports in 2024, a higher rate than any other demographic group

What Didn't Recover

Not all metrics returned to pre-pandemic levels. Regular participation among boys has remained at or below 42% for nine consecutive years, down from 50% in 2013. According to the SFIA(opens in new tab), several traditional team sports (baseball down 19%, tackle football down 7%, soccer down 3%) continue declining despite overall participation growth. Multi-sport participation dropped 13% since 2019, with the average young athlete now playing just 1.63 sports.

National averages hide dramatic differences between states. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set a target of 63.2%(opens in new tab) youth sports participation by 2030. As of 2023, 14 states and D.C. have already hit that mark, but many others lag well behind.

Where Participation Lags

Nevada (43%), along with several other Sun Belt states, reports participation well below the national average. Contributing factors include rapid population growth outpacing facility development, high housing costs squeezing family budgets, and limited school-based sports infrastructure in newer communities.

States with large metro areas tend to show wider participation gaps. When club and travel sports dominate over school-based programs, access depends more heavily on family income and transportation.

What Top-Performing States Share

The states reaching the 63% target(opens in new tab) tend to share common characteristics. Vermont (72%), South Dakota (69%), and New Hampshire (68%) all have strong school-based athletics programs, relatively small populations, and community cultures that prioritize outdoor activity. Rural states generally outperform urban ones because schools serve as the primary sports infrastructure, reducing the cost barrier.

Thirty-four states increased their participation rates in 2023, suggesting momentum is building nationally even as the gap between top and bottom performers persists.

The headline numbers show recovery, but rising costs, early specialization, and screen time are still pushing specific groups out. Here's what's working against participation, and why it matters for program design.

Cost: The Biggest Barrier

Average family spending on a child's primary sport reached $1,016 per year in 2024(opens in new tab), a 46% increase since 2019 — twice the rate of overall U.S. inflation during the same period. Travel team fees, equipment costs, tournament expenses, and private coaching push costs even higher for competitive athletes.

The result: families earning over $100,000 are twice as likely to have a child in travel sports compared to families earning under $50,000. The income participation gap widened from 13.6 percentage points in 2012 to 20.2 points in 2024.

Early Specialization

The shift from multi-sport to single-sport participation creates a feedback loop with rising costs: year-round commitments push expenses higher, and families who can't afford them drop out. For the full dropout data and specialization trends, see our youth sports statistics overview.

Competition from Screens

Young people are spending less time in physical activity and more time on digital devices. While screen time isn't the sole cause of participation decline, it represents a competing demand for the same limited hours in a child's day. The shift is most noticeable among teenagers, where core participation dropped 3% even as casual "try it once" numbers rose.

Safety Concerns

Concussion awareness and injury statistics have driven some families away from contact sports entirely. Tackle football participation has declined 7% since 2019, though flag football has more than compensated with 14% growth. Overall participation stays flat. Kids are moving to lower-contact alternatives instead.

Participation gaps follow income, race, gender, and age lines. The barriers are about access, not interest.

The Income Divide

The income-based participation gap is the most documented disparity in youth sports. Children from the lowest income households (under $25,000) participate at roughly half the rate of children from the highest income households ($100,000+). This gap has widened consistently over the past decade, driven primarily by rising costs.

The lowest-income bracket was the only income group where participation declined in 2023. While every other income level saw gains, children from families earning under $25,000 saw a 4% drop, suggesting that even the post-pandemic recovery bypassed the families with the fewest resources.

Gender Trends

Both boys' and girls' participation reached multi-year highs in 2024, according to the SFIA's 2024 report(opens in new tab). Girls' regular participation (37%) hit its highest level since 2012, driven partly by growth in flag football (388% cumulative growth in high school girls' programs since the pandemic) and continued strength in soccer, volleyball, and dance.

Boys' numbers are harder to read. While core participation (42%) is up slightly year over year, it has remained at or below 42% for nine straight years. In 2013, half of all boys ages 6-17 participated regularly. That baseline has not been recovered.

Race and Ethnicity

Latino youth showed the strongest participation growth in recent years. Project Play data(opens in new tab) shows that in 2024, 65% of Latino youth ages 6-17 tried a sport, higher than both Black and White youth. Latina girls' participation climbed from 39.5% in 2019 to 48.4% in 2024.

Black youth face the largest gap in regular participation at 35%, down from 45% in 2013. Research points to facility access, program availability, and economic factors — not interest — as the primary barriers. In communities with fewer public sports facilities, participation drops regardless of demographics.

Age Group Divergence

Ages 6-12 show the strongest participation recovery, with both casual and regular rates climbing. Ages 13-17 present a different pattern: casual participation (trying sports once) grew 6-7% in 2024, but core regular participation dropped 3%. This suggests more teens are sampling sports without committing. That may reflect competing interests, burnout from early specialization, or the rising cost of competitive programs.

Most youth sports participation data comes from the United States, but the challenges facing young athletes aren't unique to one country.

Global Attitudes Toward Sport

A study conducted by the International Olympic Committee and Allianz(opens in new tab) found that 72% of young people worldwide consider playing sport important. This high level of interest stands in contrast to actual participation rates in many countries, where access barriers — facilities, cost, coaching, cultural norms — prevent interest from translating into regular activity.

Youth Sports as a Global Industry

U.S. spending on youth sports alone exceeds $40 billion annually(opens in new tab), reflecting both the scale of American youth sports culture and the commercialization that drives costs higher. Other countries face similar cost pressures as travel teams and club models expand internationally.

Common Patterns Across Countries

Several trends appear consistently across developed nations:

• Declining participation among teenagers compared to younger children
• Widening access gaps between high-income and low-income families
• Growing interest in non-traditional and individual sports
• Increased female participation, though still below male rates in most countries

Everywhere, the gap between wanting to play (72% globally) and actually playing regularly stays wide, especially for youth who can't afford it or don't have programs nearby.

These statistics aren't just background reading. Each one points to something coaches and program directors can do differently.

Address the Cost Barrier

With the income gap at 20.2 points and growing, programs that reduce financial barriers will reach the largest untapped audience. Equipment lending libraries, sliding-scale fees, and partnerships with community organizations all help. The data shows demand exists at every income level — cost is what prevents it from becoming participation.

Design for Retention, Not Just Recruitment

The gap between "tried at least once" (65%) and regular participation (55.4%) tells you that millions of children sample sports but don't stay. For teens ages 13-17, the gap is even wider. Coaches who focus on making the experience enjoyable instead of purely competitive address the primary reason children cite for dropping out: it stopped being fun.

Support Multi-Sport Athletes

With the average young athlete down to 1.63 sports, coaches who actively encourage multi-sport participation work against the specialization trend. This means designing schedules that don't force families to choose, celebrating athletes who play other sports in the off-season, and building general athletic development into practice plans.

Track What Matters

Our complete guide to youth sports statistics covers the research behind these recommendations in more detail.

Population statistics guide program design, but individual athletes need individual attention. When coaches track athlete development over time, they can spot early signs of burnout, identify skill gaps from single-sport specialization, and make evidence-based adjustments. Platforms like Striveon help coaches monitor progress across multiple dimensions, turning research insights into day-to-day coaching decisions.