Tag: USTA Serves

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.

 

 

 

 

 

The Educational and Health Benefits of Tennis

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There is more great news about the value that sports has on American youth. This past week a report of high school students nationwide, USTA Serves Special Report, More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health, was released that analyzes the educational, behavioral, and health benefits to adolescents who participate in tennis.

Results from the study show that, when compared to non-athletes and participants in many other sports, young people who participate in tennis get better grades, devote more hours to studying, think more about their future, aspire to attend and graduate from college, and have lower suspension and expulsion rates.

A press release for the report identified the following key findings from the report as:
• Tennis is a unique catalyst for educational advantage.
• Tennis players had significantly lower rates of suspension from school and other disciplinary measures than participants in other sports and non-athletes.
• Educational advantages among tennis players occurred across all socioeconomic levels.
• Adolescent tennis players are well-rounded.
• Tennis contributes to adolescent health.
• Adolescent participation in tennis varies by race/ethnicity and gender, as well as across geographic regions.

The report used data from Monitoring the Future, a federally-funded survey, in order to compare the education and health profiles of tennis players with other high school athletes, as well as with high school students who do not participate in sports.  USTA Serves is the national charitable foundation of the United States Tennis Association.