How many kids stop playing sports

According to a poll from the National Alliance for Youth Sports, around 70 percent of kids in the United States stop playing organized sports by the age of 13 because “it’s just not fun anymore.” I have three kids, all of whom play sports, and my oldest is about to turn 13.

Twenty million kids register each year for youth hockey, football, baseball,soccer, and other competitive sports. The National Alliance for Sportsreports that 70 percent of these kids quit playing these league sports byage 13 — and never play them again.

Due to financial pressures, bad coaches and just plain lack of fun, the average child today spends less than three years playing a sport and quits by age 11. That’s just one of the findings of a new survey of sports parents conducted by Utah State University for the Aspen Institute.

The average child today spends less than three years playing a sport, quitting by age 11, most often because the sport just isn’t fun anymore. Their parents are under pressure, too, with some sports costing thousands of dollars a year and travel expenses taking up the largest chunk.

It’s another to encourage a child into a sport they loathe. … “If the kid is having a good time, if it’s fun, they’re going to want to continue doing it, and the more they do it the more they will gain the benefits,” Taylor says. “It becomes self-reinforcing.”

Perhaps most troubling is that many kids are deciding to hang up their cleats or sneakers or skates at a young age. … Most kids quit because they think they’re not good enough — a by-product, experts say, of the hyper-competitive environment that lords over most youth sports.