Study looks at growth in youth sports’ private clubs and travel teams

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio State professor was the lead author of a study that determined significant growth in youth sports’ private clubs and travel teams in recent decades.

In addition to overall growth, certain kids were more likely to participate in these teams than others, based on factors like social class and parents’ education levels.

The study, which was published in the “Journal of Sport and Social Issues” looked at survey data from 3,938 adults, according to a press release from The Ohio State University. It was an online survey and included respondents from all 50 states who answered questions between fall 2018 and spring 2019.

“The experience of playing sports is a lot different for kids growing up today compared to those growing up in previous generations, with the shift from school-based and community-based sports to private club sports,” said Chris Knoester, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at OSU, in the release. “The result is that it is much more expensive to play youth sports today, and it requires extraordinary commitments from both kids and their parents.”

Here’s some highlights from the report, per the release:

• It was about three times as likely for people born in the 90s to join private club/travel sports when compared to people born in the 50s, 13% and 4% respectively
• Being born in the 90s and having a college-educated parent correlated to a 16% chance of joining one of these teams, compared to just 6% for people without college-educated parents (there was no such difference for people born in the 50s)
• Recently, people from a higher social class were also more likely to join these teams when compared to earlier generations

Chris Bjork, a professor of education at Vassar College, conducted the study with Knoester. He said the purpose of sports, for many parents, has shifted away from fun and exercise to “a way to position their kids for future success in college and beyond.”

“It appears that opportunities are steadily declining for less educated families that don’t have the knowledge or the money to invest in their kids’ sports careers,” he said.

The release cites data from Project Play to support this, noting a significant increase in the cost of children’s sports in recent years.

Project Play claims, on average, families spent a little more than $1,000 for their kid’s primary sport last year. That’s a 46% increase from 2019, they say.

“That’s twice the rate of price inflations in the U.S. economy during the same period,” reads a post on the Project Play website. “Driving up the costs are higher spending on team registrations, travel and lodging for non-local play, and individual camps and private instructions to improve athletic skills, according to a survey of adults who have at least one child playing sports.”

Knoester said the youth sports industry is continuing to grow and that they are selling more and more services to parents.

“Embracing private club and travel sports oftentimes brings overwhelming costs and a lot of stress when it comes to travel, organizational and family commitments,” Knoester said in the release. “And there is no indication that this trend is slowing down.”