2018 Youth Sports Participation Report

LA84 Foundation Youth Sports Survey Los Angeles County, 2018 LA84 Foundation: 2018 Youth Sports Participation Report Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 3 Sports Participation Trends ........................................................................................................... 8 Future Sports Participation Interest ............................................................................................ 17 Inactivity Among LA County Youth .............................................................................................. 20 Sports Participation Rates & Profiles .......................................................................................... 24 Type & Location of Play ............................................................................................................... 72 Media Use ..................................................................................................................................... 76 P.E./Physical Activity Classes ....................................................................................................... 80 Special Needs Children ................................................................................................................. 82 Household Adults: Physical Fitness Status .................................................................................. 83 Inequity ......................................................................................................................................... 85 Household Profile ......................................................................................................................... 88 Background & Methodology ........................................................................................................ 90 Sampling Methodology – Survey Sampling International .......................................................... 92 ©2018 LA84 Foundation 2 LA84 Foundation: 2018 Youth Sports Participation Report Executive Summary The LA84 Foundation, for over three decades, has used the power of sport to create access and opportunity for those who need it most. But hiding in plain sight, there is a national crisis in play. Simply stated, kids from affluent families play sports at a significantly higher rate than young people from less wealthy households, and boys continue to play at a higher rate than girls. We have found that many people who do not have children or do not live in underserved communities are not aware of the barriers that stand in the way of sports participation. A chasm exists between the haves and the have- nots when it comes to sports and the basic need to run or jump, swim or compete ... or simply move. And that is why we coined the phrase Play Equity and why we are leading the #PlayforAll Movement. Play Equity means that the amount of exercise kids get must not be determine by their income, geography, gender or ability. Play Equity means that the dreams of our youth must not be determined by their zip codes. Play is a basic human right and all of our youth deserve equal access. The LA84 Foundation is committed to closing the Play Equity Gap to ensure that all of our children have the access and opportunity to enjoy the social, emotional, health, and educational benefits of youth sports and structured play. Throughout Southern California organizations such as Girls Play Los Angeles, the Dodgers Foundation, Playworks, Beat the Streets LA, Angel City Sports, Students Run LA, Brotherhood Crusade, Special Olympics Southern California, Coaching Corps and Positive Coaching Alliance, among many others, work tirelessly to make Play for All a reality. The LA84 Foundation has supported all of these activities through its thought leadership, convenings such as its annual sports Summit, advocacy, and grant making. The LA84 Foundation Youth Sports Survey, Los Angeles County, 2018 measures progress in the effort to make youth sports available to all young people in our community. The report updates and expands the foundation’s inaugural 2016 survey. The 2018 report presents a comprehensive view of youth sports in Los Angeles County, detailing participation rates, types of play, locations, sport participant profiles, and total player projections, while highlighting changes to the youth sports landscape since 2016. The new survey, which the LA84 Foundation commissioned SMS USA to conduct, replicates the 2016 survey, but expands it to ask new questions about perceptions of cost, availability, and access. The responses to those questions provide insights on how socioeconomic inequity affects youth sports participation in Los Angeles. The survey involved 703 households representing 1,095 youngsters ages 6- 17, with interviews conducted in English and Spanish. The 2018 survey shows that more than 1.2 million young people, 82.3% of all kids, in Los Angeles County participate in sports and that in most sports the participation rates in Los Angeles County exceed national rates, often by wide margins. Although the number of young people playing sports is impressive, we should not lose sight of two key points. First, youth sports participation remains closely tied to household income, with children from the lowest-income households participating at the lowest rate. Parents from low-income households are most likely to agree that youth sports are too expensive, and most likely to call for more school-based sports programs, which typically involve lower costs for participation and travel than other sports options. Second, 39% of Los Angeles County youth sports participation takes the form of casual/pick-up play. While the LA84 Foundation believes in the value of ©2018 LA84 Foundation 3 LA84 Foundation: 2018 Youth Sports Participation Report all physical activity, we believe that the greatest benefits come from structured sports programs that involve the purposeful mentoring of young people. Clearly, we still need to do more work in Los Angeles County to close the Play Equity Gap. Below is a summary of the survey’s key findings. PARTICIPATION • 82.3% of Los Angeles County youth, ages 6-17, participate in a sport, a slight improvement over the 2016 activity rate of 81.5%. More than 1.2 million young people, ages 6-17, play sports in Los Angeles County. • Family income continues to be associated with youth sport participation. Kids from households with annual incomes greater than $150k participate at a rate of 90%, while only 71% of kids from households earning below $35k play sports. On a positive note, despite this gap, youth sports participation increased, from 2016 to 2018, in households under $75k. • Youth activity correlates to parental activity levels. Children in households with regularly-active parents showed an increase in activity, rising from 84% to 90%. Meanwhile, kids from households with occasionally-active or inactive parents participate at a rate of 77%, a slight decline from 2016. Regular physical activity among parents, in turn, corresponds to income, with affluent households showing the highest parental activity level. • Girls’ participation indicates an increase from 73% in 2016 to 79% in 2018. This positive finding, however, may be influenced by the addition of “Cheer/dance” as a separate, selectable sport choice. The 2016 survey also documented this activity, but did so under the rubric of “Other sports.” In any case, girls’ participation rate still trails that of boys, with 85% of boys participating in sport compared to 79% of girls. • The youngest age group of boys and girls, 6-8 year-olds, has a higher participation rate than in 2016, reflecting an increase from 72% to 81%. However, younger children ages 6-11 remain slightly less active than older kids. • Soccer, as in 2016, has the highest participation rate among youth ages 6-17 in Los Angeles County, with 27% of children having played in the past 12 months. Swimming (26.7%), basketball (25.7%), running (16.9%), and baseball (16.1%) follow. When baseball is combined with slow-pitch softball (6.4% and fast-pitch softball (5.6%) the result is 28.1%. Only running, track & field, and rugby saw youth participation rates increase from 2016 to 2018. • Skateboarding again has the highest play frequency of all youth sports with an average of 77 participation days a year, followed by basketball (63), martial arts (62), running (59), and cheer/dance (59). ©2018 LA84 Foundation 4 LA84 Foundation: 2018 Youth Sports Participation Report • Los Angeles County youth played sports an average of 112 times in the past year, similar to the 2016 average of 114. • The most frequently cited reason for not participating in sport is Not interested (35%). Other reasons cited are Doesn’t like sport (18%), Other non-sport interests (10% - double the percentage in 2016), Too busy with school work (5%), Sports not offered at school (4%), Cost/Too expensive (4%), Health concerns (3%), and Too young (2%). • Kids played fewer sports in 2018, indicating somewhat greater sports specialization, with youngsters averaging 2.21 sports compared to 2.7 in 2016. • 64% of Los Angeles County youth would like to play a sport in the next year. Soccer is the most desired sport, followed by basketball, baseball, football, and tennis. TYPE AND LOCATION OF PLAY • Among youth sports participants, casual pickup play declined 8% while there was a corresponding increase in organized play, with the biggest increase in organized non-school

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