Girls and boys quit sports at almost the same age

On a Saturday sideline, someone will say that girls get out of sports at nine or ten, before the boys do. The Women’s Sports Foundation published its first Sport Report on Oct. 9, and the children who had stopped were almost the same age. Girls were 11.9, on average. Boys were 11.7. YouGov asked 3,065 kids ages 8 to 18, each with a parent, in May and June, and weighted the answers to the country.

By high school, more of the girls are already out. Among 14- to 18-year-olds, 22 percent of girls have played and then quit. Seventeen percent of boys have. Of the girls who stopped, 11 percent had left before age 8, and a quarter left between 8 and 10. Twenty-nine percent left between 11 and 13. Thirty-five percent left between 14 and 18. Most of the girls who quit do it after they turn 11, in the same stretch of years as the boys.

Some girls never get as far as quitting. Forty-five percent of girls ages 8 to 18 are in an organized sport now, and 52 percent of boys are. At ages 8 to 10 the split is already there, 46 percent to 54. A one-time lesson does not count here. Organized means a coach, practices, or competition, which is why these shares sit lower than counts that include any lesson in a year. Thirty-nine percent of girls have never played. Fifty-four percent of those girls say they want to. Boys who never played say they want to at 52 percent. A girl on the outside of a roster is about as likely as a boy to want in. Someone still has to ask her, and someone has to have a team.

When they do leave, fun is the first answer for both. Forty-one percent of girls, and 41 percent of boys, say it stopped being fun. Feeling they were not good enough sits close too, 21 percent of girls and 18 percent of boys. After that, girls more often say another activity took the afternoon, 32 percent against 19. They mention friends who quit, a coach they did not like, and a body that was changing: 15 percent against 8, 12 against 7, and 11 against 5. Boys more often name the ride to practice, 13 percent against 8. If dinner is only “are you still having fun,” you will miss the friend who left and the coach she does not want to see on Tuesday.

At the middle of the spending, a family puts $500 a year into a daughter’s sports and $400 into a son’s. The averages are higher, $1,262 and $906, because some households spend a great deal. More than a third of parents with a daughter playing put in $1,000 or more. The wider gap is between girls. Under $50,000, 31 percent of girls play. Over $100,000, 58 percent do. That is 27 points. Girls and boys, across incomes, are 7 points apart.

Black and Hispanic girls are more often among the ones who never got a team. Forty-six percent of Black girls have never played, and 47 percent of Hispanic girls, against 33 percent of white girls. Ask the girls who haven’t, and most of them still want to. Among Hispanic girls who have never played, 61 percent say yes. Among Black girls who have never played, 58 percent do.

When the budget is smaller and she is still playing, school is usually the team she has. Seventy-six percent of lower-income girl players come through a school team. Twenty-three percent are on a private or travel team. In higher-income houses, 53 percent of the girls who play are in a club or a travel program. A girl can be counted in both. If the school drops the sport, the cheaper team is gone, and a lot of those families do not have the other one.

At ages 8 to 10, 80 percent of girls and of boys say sports are for someone like them. By 14 to 18, 66 percent of girls still say it, and 73 percent of boys do. Over those years the girls’ share falls 14 points. The boys’ share falls 7. By high school, about one girl in three does not feel the game is for her.

The girl to keep an eye on is 11 or 12, with practice still on the calendar. That is the year the average girl who leaves actually leaves, and it is the boys’ year too. Keep the season. If she has never played, ask her. About half of the girls in that spot say they want to. A school team or a rec league will take a beginner. The travel fee is what keeps the other teams out of reach.