Youth sports. One of the most important aspects of growing up. It’s where young children learn how to work as a team, exercise and socialize with their friends.
The number of youth sport participation is not something that is typically thought about. Picture the local baseball fields, soccer pitches or basketball courts. They are typically filled with young athletes either playing for fun or competing in some sort of league, whether that be travel, club or recreational. Despite that scene you just imagined, sports organizations are facing a difficult problem, the problem of a lack of players.
Before COVID-19 swept the world in 2020, youth sports were overall doing well. According to the Aspen Institute, in 2019, 56.1% of all youth ages six through seventeen participated in either a sporting team or sporting lessons.
When tracking children ages 6 to 12, 49.1% of males and 33.5% of females participated in a sport on a regular basis in 2012. In 2019, participation fell. Only 39.1% of males and 32.7% of females were regularly playing sports. Just a year later in 2020, those numbers dropped again. Now only 37.1% of males and 29.5% of females were regularly playing sports.
Hamden is typical of towns across the U.S. experiencing a decline in youth sports participation.
“It’s been a challenge and we’ve had to make a pretty big effort to get them back into sports,” said Calvin McGee, president of the Hamden Fathers Football and Cheerleading Association. “You know, there’s several soccer leagues and basketball and martial arts and things like that, that also folks all pulling from the same pool so to speak.”
There are many reasons behind the drop in participation. Brian Nolan, former president of the Hamden Soccer Association, said young athletes withdrew for many reasons.
“Kids not wanting to play, parents probably enjoyed their time not having to drive their kids around, anxiety levels of kids and parents and having masks on the kids outside,” Nolan said.
That behavior has persisted even as the pandemic eased. Nolan said that before COVID struck, the Hamden Soccer Association saw increases at most age levels. He credits that increase to more advertising that families saw a growing team.
Once COVID came, the soccer association didn’t shut down. Instead, the group ran virtual training sessions and for the first time an outdoor summer program, which saw a substantial turnout. It wasn’t until the following year that the soccer association saw a decrease in participation.
The biggest challenge organizations face is to get the young athletes to return after months of inactivity due to COVID-19. These children found other things to do, and extracting them from that environment to return outside is difficult.
The rapid increase in popularity of Esports and streaming has also contributed to this trend. Watching others play video games has become easy over the last few years. Anyone can make a free account on YouTube or Twitch and watch someone stream a video game. Compared to some sports like the MLB or the NBA, where blackouts prevent some fans from watching their favorite teams, video game streams are always available.
Electronics and video games are a common answer as a villain in the departure of kids from traditional sports.
“And that’s the thing, even kids in elementary, have a phone. They’re playing on their phone, they’re talking on their phone or they’re on an Xbox or PlayStation playing with their friends,” Nolan said.
McGee also points to at-home entertainment.
“And then you have the challenges of electronics and video games,” he said. “You know, things that you couldn’t do from home. Now you were doing them from home, and you got kind of comfortable doing them from home.”
Even before COVID-19, participation rates were headed downward. In a 2017 national study conducted by Sports Market Analytics and published by Samford University, results showed that the participation rates for baseball, basketball, football and soccer have decreased from the years 2001 to 2016.
Along with the possibility of video games, some players just lose interest overall. No matter how good they may be, the sport just no longer is as fun as it used to be.
According to a survey conducted by the Aspen Institute, 3 out of every 10 young athletes who played sports before COVID-19, did not return because of lack of interest.
In the Aspen Institute State of Play 2022, 27% of parents whose child stopped participating in youth sports credited a lack of interest as their reasoning. Since COVID-19 struck, that number has only increased. In 2020, only 18-19% of parents say their child stopped playing because of lack of interest and in 2021, the number was at 28%.
But for those who don’t quit, there are several reasons why. Hamden Hurricanes volleyball junior varsity Coach Margaret DiMauro appreciates the bond she has developed with her daughter and the bonds she has made with her teammates.
“So I think what keeps her in this is the bonds that she makes with kids (that) aren’t necessarily from her school,” DiMauro said. “ It’s one of the most rewarding experiences that I’ve ever had with her.”
Along with several options for their athletes to participate in, Hamden Volleyball has three teams that participate, ages 6 through 13. Cheer Director Ebony Bon mentioned that the older ages groups have seen a more consistent turnout compared to the younger groups.
“They look forward to seeing them every year, they look forward to meeting back with their friends and spending, you know, a couple of days a week for four months of the year together,” Bon said.
This overall decline is nothing new for the town either. According to Hamden Recreation Supervisor David DeMartino, this has been occurring ever since he started working for the town.
“Just all the activities pretty much have seen a bit of a decline, especially from 20 years ago since I started,” DeMartino said.
On the town level, the Hamden youth sports have experienced a budget cut over the last year. After spending $52,000 in 2020-21, the town raised the budget to $60,000 the following year. But now this year, the budget was cut by $13,000, bringing the total to $47,000.
Despite the youth sports budget cut, DeMartino doesn’t believe that has an effect on the decreasing participation numbers.
“I don’t think that that has anything to do with it,” DeMartino said, “These organizations also raise money from their registration. They also in other ways go out and get grants as well.”
The town as a whole has noticed a slight increase in the past few years according to DeMartino.
“Numbers are steadily increasing slightly in a lot of the sports now,” said DeMartino, “But it’s still down overall compared to what it used be,”