Tag: Soccer

Top Sports in Colorado for High School Girls

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What were the top sports for high school girl athletes in Colorado in 2014?

Data from the National Federal of State High School Athletic Associations (NFHS), https://www.nfhs.org/, shows that the top sports for girls, from an athletic director’s perspective, are basketball, volleyball, track and field, cross-country, and soccer. More than 300 Colorado schools have basketball, volleyball, and track and field programs and greater than 200 schools have cross-country, and soccer programs.

At the bottom of the list are field hockey and alpine and cross-country ski programs.

Sport Number of Schools with Programs
Basketball 329
Volleyball 318
Track and Field — Outdoor 302
Cross Country 230
Soccer 213
Competitive Spirit Squad 190
Softball — Fast Pitch 178
Golf 164
Tennis 153
Swimming & Diving 153
Lacrosse 81
Gymnastics 66
Skiing — Alpine 14
Skiing — Cross Country 14
Field Hockey 13

Top Sports in Colorado - Volleyball

From the athlete’s perspective the ranking is much different. Volleyball is overwhelmingly the most popular sport followed by soccer, track and field, basketball, and tennis.

Alpine and cross-country ski programs are clearly at the bottom.

Sport Number of Participants
Volleyball 9,097
Soccer 7,623
Track and Field — Outdoor 7,334
Basketball 7,089
Competitive Spirit Squad 4,810
Tennis 4,552
Swimming & Diving 4,142
Cross Country 3,957
Softball — Fast Pitch 3,724
Lacrosse 1,604
Golf 1,514
Field Hockey 592
Gymnastics 543
Skiing — Alpine 151
Skiing — Cross Country 100

The data showed there are 175 girls participating in boy’s wrestling, baseball, football (11,8, and 6 player), and Ice hockey. There were 85 in wrestling and 42 in baseball.

Age Breakdown of Sports Participants

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Recreation departments, sports manufacturers and retailers, coaching and trade associations, and athletic departments are interested in the age breakdown of sports participants. This information helps them develop customized equipment, services, programs, and coaching techniques to the sports participants in each age group. As well, age breakdown information provides valuable marketing insight that is used to promote goods, services, and the various sports.

The U.S. Statistical Abstract publishes sports participation levels by age groups using National Sporting Goods Association data. The 2012 publication provides 2009 NSGA information.

Key findings from the data show:

  • Soccer, baseball, basketball, and volleyball are predominantly youth sports.
  • Swimmers are split between two groups. Almost 42% are under 25 and about 45% are in the 25 to 54 age category.
  • Almost 57% of tennis players are in the 25 to 54 age group. A small percentage of tennis players are over the age of 55.
  • The breakdown of alpine skiers is similar to tennis; however, there are a higher percentage of older skiers than tennis players.
  • The sports of aerobic exercising, yoga, exercising with equipment, golf, and exercise walking have the highest percentage of older participants and the lowest percentage of youth participants. For each of these sports the percentage of participants in the 25 to 54 age category is between 54% and 65%.

sports participants

Sports Participation Rates by Gender

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From a business perspective it is important to understand the breakdown of sports participation rates by gender. This information can be used for everything from developing equipment and coaching techniques that are gender specific to marketing goods and services to the players and teams.

The U.S. Statistical Abstract publishes sports participation rates by gender using National Sporting Goods Association data. The 2012 publication provides 2009 NSGA information.

Overall, the split between participants in all sports and leisure activities measured by NSGA is 49.1% male and 50.9% female. This is similar to the gender breakdown for the U.S. population.

The data shows the following sports have a higher percentage of male participants:

  • Baseball
  • Golf
  • Basketball
  • Alpine skiing
  • Soccer
  • Tennis.

On the other hand, the following sports have a higher percentage of female participants:

  • Exercising with equipment
  • Swimming
  • Volleyball
  • Exercise walking
  • Aerobic exercising
  • Yoga.

More current information will be available in the 2013 Statistical Abstract or it can be purchased from NSGA; however, variances from the 2009 data are likely to be minimal.

 

What Sports do Adolescent Girls Play?

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A recent (2013) report produced by USTA Serves, “More than a Sport: Tennis, Education, and Health” promotes the merits of sports, specifically tennis. It identified the participation rates for the top nine community-based sports programs by race/ethnicity.

Overall basketball and volleyball are the top sports for adolescent girls.

The highest percentage of Blacks participated in basketball, track and field, and volleyball while the highest percentage of Hispanics played soccer, basketball, and volleyball. The top sports for Whites were basketball, volleyball, and baseball/softball.

As expected, team sports were more popular than individual sports.

As with the boys, the data shows that Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics prefer different sports. As communities are able to offer a greater variety of programs, more adolescents are able to benefit from participation in sports.

Sadly, a higher percentage of girls did not participate compared to the boys. Almost one-third of Hispanics and Blacks did not play in sports programs compared to one-in-five for Whites.

For Information about the participation rates for boys go to “What Sports do Adolescent Boys Play?”

For additional information contact USTA Serves.

 

 

What Sports do Adolescent Boys Play?

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USTA Serves, recently released the report “More than a Sport: Tennis, Education, and Health” to sell the positive benefits of tennis. It identified the participation rates for the top nine community-based sports programs and the participation rate of adolescent boys by race/ethnicity.

Football and basketball are the top sports for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. The highest percentage of Blacks participated in basketball, football, and track and field, while the most popular sports for Hispanics were football, soccer, and basketball. The top three sports for Whites were football, basketball, and baseball.

As expected, participation in team sports was greater than individual sports.

Interestingly, 16% of Whites did not participate in sports and only 12% of Blacks did not participate. About 15% of the Hispanic adolescents did not participate in sports programs.

The data shows that Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics prefer different sports. As communities expand their variety of sports programs, more adolescents are able to benefit from participation in sports.

For a comparison to the girls go to the blog post What Sports do Adolescent Girls Play?

For additional information contact USTA Serves.

 

 

 

 

 

USTA Study Shows Sports Participation Rates Favor Traditional Team Sports

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Back in the day… the boys’ sports with the highest level of participation were football, basketball, baseball, track and field and wrestling. In many communities, these were the only programs.

The limited programs for girls included volleyball, basketball, softball, and track and field. The combination of Title IX and the expansion of recreation and sports facilities and programs created more opportunities for youth to participate in.

A recent (2013) report produced by the USTA, “More than a Sport: Tennis, Education, and Health” identified the participation rates for the top nine community-based sports programs.  The report shows the “traditional” sports still have the highest level of participation and the remainder of the list is filled out by a mix of team and individual sports. Over the past 30 years, soccer has become a major sport

For the boys, the participation rate and sport were:
40% Football
40% Basketball
25% Baseball
20% Soccer
17% Track and Field
10% Wrestling
9% Swimming
8% Tennis
5% Cross Country
Only 15% of the boys did not participate in a sport.

For the girls, the participation rate and sport were:
25% Basketball
23% Volleyball
17% Baseball/Softball
17% Soccer
17% Track and Field
12% Swimming
8% Tennis
4% Cross Country
3% Lacrosse
Unfortunately, 25% of the girls did not participate in sports programs.

The good news is that a high percentage of youth are participating in sports programs, particularly given the financial constraints put on schools, municipalities, and the private sector to offer such programs during the volatile economic times of the past decade.

USTA Serves, Inc. is the national charitable foundation of the USTA. For additional information contact the USTA, or go to Resources/Research tab on the USTA Serves website.

 

 

Want to Turn Pro – What are the Chances?

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Do you want your son or daughter to earn an athletic scholarship that will allow them to pursue a career as a professional in their sport?

The NCAA research department has compiled data that sheds light on the prospects of achieving that goal. As will be shown below, the chances of going pro are greatest for athletes who pursue professional careers in baseball or hockey.

Men’s Basketball
• Less than 1 in 35 high school seniors play in the NCAA.
• About 1 in 75 NCAA seniors get drafted by an NBA team.
• 3 in 10,000 high school seniors play in the NCAA and are drafted by an NBA team.

Women’s Basketball
• About 3 in 100 high school seniors play in the NCAA.
• Less than 1 in 100 NCAA seniors get drafted by a WNBA team.
• 2 in 10,000 high school seniors play in the NCAA and are drafted by a WNBA team.

Football
• About 1 in 16 high school seniors play in the NCAA.
• Less than 1 in 50 NCAA seniors get drafted by a NFL team.
• 8 in 10,000 high school seniors play in the NCAA and are drafted by an NFL team.

Baseball
• About 3 in 50 high school seniors play in the NCAA.
• Less than 9 in 100 NCAA seniors get drafted by a MLB team.
• 1 in 200 high school seniors play in the NCAA and are drafted by an MLB team.

Men’s Ice Hockey
• About 11 in 100 high school seniors play in the NCAA.
• Less than 1 in 26 NCAA seniors get drafted by a NHL team.
• 1 in 300 high school seniors play in the NCAA and are drafted by an NHL team.

Men’s Soccer
• Less than 3 in 50 high school seniors play in the NCAA.
• Less than 1 in 50 NCAA seniors get drafted by a MLS team.
• 1 in 1,250 high school seniors play in the NCAA and are drafted by an MLS team.

The data presented above and in the table below was updated on September 27, 2011 and posted at www.ncaa.org. These percentages are based on estimated data and should be considered approximations of the actual percentages (NCAA disclaimer).

Clearly, academics have to be important to most of the athletes who participate in college programs.

 

Newcomers Finish As Expected in First PAC-12 Season

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The inaugural PAC-12 athletic season has come to a close and Colorado and Utah finished as expected. With the exception of cross country, the newcomers showed that they can compete in the conference, but that they are not yet serious contenders for the top spots in the league.

In the ever-important sport of football, Utah finished third in the South Division with a 4-5 record. The Buffs ended at the bottom of the pack with 2 wins and 7 losses. The conference will be well represented in the upcoming BCS Bowl Series.

On the volleyball court CU compiled a spirited 1-21 record, while Utah finished 9th with 6 wins and 15 losses in conference play. UCLA won the national championship, defeating Illinois 3-1 in four closely fought sets. Illinois squeaked by USC in the semifinals 3-2. Arguably, the PAC-12 is the toughest volleyball conference in the country which will present challenges for the newcomers in 2012. In December, Tom Hogan, CU assistant coach and former USOC coach, announced that he will be leaving the Buff program.

Utah finished a respectable 5th place with a 6-5 record in women’s soccer, while Colorado was 1-9-1. CU’s only win of the season came in conference play. Stanford won the National Championship in women’s soccer. In November, Coach Bill Hempen ended his successful 11-year tenure at CU.

The one bright spot for the Buffs was cross country. To nobody’s surprise, Colorado swept both the men’s and women’s PAC-12 events. At the NCAAs, Arizona’s Lawi Lalang won the Men’s individual title. The PAC-12 had finishers in the second, sixth and 8th position. Buff Richard Medina finished 8th. On the women’s side, PAC-12 Champion CU finished third overall.

For further information on the PAC-12, click here.