Youth sports participation has rallied from a pandemic era dip.
More kids are playing than at any time pre-2019, according to industry and government data cited in the Aspen Institute’s Project Play State of Play 2025 report.
55.4% of kids ages 6-17 played sports in 2023 (federal)
65% of kids ages 6-17 tried sports in 2024 (SFIA)
6% YoY participation increase for ages 6-17 in 2024 (SFIA)
But ages 13-17 saw a 3% participation decline YoY (SFIA)
A few other participation takeaways and notes from the report:
63×30 progress: Fourteen states and the District of Columbia hit 63% participation in 2023, seven years ahead of Aspen’s goal to hit the benchmark nationally by 2030. Three more states were at 62% and half the country (24 states) was at 60%.
Surprising laggers: Nevada had the nation’s lowest participation rate despite being the nation’s fifth-fastest growing state according to the 2020 census. Florida and Texas were bottom-5 in participation nationally despite adding the most people of any state according to the census.
Room for growth: Utah had a 17% participation gap between boys and girls — the third-largest in the country. It will be interesting to see how quickly that disparity narrows — and maybe turns the other direction? — between the state being the fastest-growing in the U.S., the investments ahead of the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and the presence of Utah Jazz/Mammoth owner Ryan Smith.
Push and pull: Soccer participation ran 6.4% ahead of flag football participation among kids ages 6-12 in 2012. That gap was narrowed to 3.5% in 2024. Something to keep in mind as girls flag continues to explode and boys flag grows as well.
Pickleball is trickling down: 2.2M kids ages 6-12 played pickleball in 2024 — double the 2022 figure. And participation jumped 157% YoY among kids ages 13-17.
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