CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN SPORTS AND PHYSICAL RECREATION
Characteristics of participants
Unlike the data collected in the 2005-06 MPHS about adult participation in sports and physical recreation, the physical activity data obtained by the April 2006 Survey of Children's Participation in Culture and Leisure Activities are largely limited to participation in organised sports outside of school hours. As a result, it is not possible to make direct comparisons between the data for adult participation and the data for children's participation.
During the 12 months ending April 2006, 1.7 million or 64% of children aged 5-14 participated in sports outside of school hours that had been organised by a school, club or association. The sport participation rate for boys exceeded that for girls, both overall (69% compared with 58%), and within each age group category.
Children aged 9-11 were those most likely to participate in sport. Their participation rate of 70% exceeded the rates for both 12-14 year olds (64%) and 5-8 year olds (58%).
The sport participation rates for children living in capital cities and children living elsewhere in Australia were similar at 63% and 64% respectively. Since 2003 the sport participation rate for both capital cities and outside capital cities has remained constant.
The sport participation rate for children varied across the states and territories, ranging from 59% in Tasmania to 71% in the Australian Capital Territory. The rate was higher for boys than for girls in all cases, with the difference being greatest in Victoria (69% and 56%) and least in Tasmania (60% and 58%).
3.4 CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN ORGANISED SPORTS(a), Characteristics of participants - 2006 |
|
 | | Number | Participation rate |
| | Males | Females | Persons | Males | Females | Persons |
| | '000 | '000 | '000 | % | % | % |
|
| AGE GROUP | | | | | | |
| 5-8 | 332.1 | 268.2 | 600.3 | 62.6 | 53.2 | 58.0 |
| 9-11 | 308.0 | 259.4 | 567.4 | 74.2 | 65.9 | 70.2 |
| 12-14 | 301.2 | 222.2 | 523.4 | 71.5 | 55.5 | 63.7 |
| STATE OR TERRITORY | | | | | | |
| New South Wales | 321.9 | 251.0 | 572.9 | 70.8 | 58.2 | 64.7 |
| Victoria | 230.1 | 177.5 | 407.5 | 69.2 | 56.2 | 62.9 |
| Queensland | 182.5 | 148.3 | 330.8 | 65.4 | 56.1 | 60.9 |
| South Australia | 68.9 | 54.1 | 123.0 | 70.1 | 57.7 | 64.1 |
| Western Australia | 93.0 | 79.9 | 172.9 | 68.5 | 61.8 | 65.2 |
| Tasmania | 20.3 | 18.7 | 38.9 | 60.2 | 58.3 | 59.3 |
| Northern Territory(b) | 8.7 | 6.8 | 15.5 | 72.4 | 60.2 | 66.5 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 16.0 | 13.5 | 29.5 | 75.4 | 66.1 | 70.9 |
| REGION | | | | | | |
| Capital cities(c) | 559.5 | 442.7 | 1 002.2 | 68.7 | 57.2 | 63.1 |
| Rest of Australia(d) | 381.7 | 307.1 | 688.9 | 69.1 | 58.7 | 64.0 |
| Total | 941.3 | 749.8 | 1 691.1 | 68.9 | 57.8 | 63.5 |
|
| (a) Relates to children aged 5-14 years who participated in organised sport outside of school hours during the 12 months ending April 2006. |
| (b) Comprises predominantly urban areas only. |
| (c) Comprises the six state capital city statistical divisions. |
| (d) Includes all of ACT and NT. |
| Source: Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2006 (cat. no. 4901.0). |
By far the most popular organised sport for boys in the year ending April 2006 was Outdoor soccer which was played by 268,500 boys (20%), well in excess of the numbers participating in the next two most popular sports - Swimming with 225,700 (17%), and Australian Rules football with 188,500 (14%). For girls, two sports were predominant - Swimming with 236,800 (18%) and Netball with 224,100 participants (17%). The level of participation by girls in both of these sports was more than double the level of participation in tennis, which was the next placed sport with 85,800 participants (6.6%).
Between April 2003 and April 2006, the sport participation rate for boys remained just under 69% while the rate for girls rose from 54% to 58%. However, the participation rate for boys playing Rugby League increased from 5.6% to 7.9%, while Outdoor soccer decreased from 22% to 20%. For girls, an increased participation rate was reported for Outdoor soccer (from 4.2% to 6.4%), while Tennis decreased from 7.8% to 6.6%.
3.5 CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN ORGANISED SPORT(a), Characteristics of participants - 2000, 2003 and 2006 |
|
| | 2000 | 2003 | 2006 |
| | Number | Participation Rate | Number | Participation Rate | Number | Participation Rate |
| | 000 | % | 000 | % | 000 | % |
|
| MALES | | | | | | |
| Soccer (outdoor) | 265.0 | 19.6 | 301.1 | 22.2 | 268.5 | 19.6 |
| Swimming | 177.0 | 13.1 | 213.6 | 15.7 | 225.7 | 16.5 |
| Australian Rules football | 170.3 | 12.6 | 184.2 | 13.6 | 188.5 | 13.8 |
| Cricket (outdoor) | 133.6 | 9.9 | 124.2 | 9.1 | 137.8 | 10.1 |
| Tennis | 124.8 | 9.2 | 128.3 | 9.5 | 109.3 | 8.0 |
| Rugby League | 92.5 | 6.8 | 76.2 | 5.6 | 107.6 | 7.9 |
| Basketball | 119.6 | 8.8 | 116.1 | 8.6 | 101.7 | 7.4 |
| Martial arts | 72.7 | 5.4 | 83.9 | 6.2 | 83.4 | 6.1 |
| Athletics/track and field | 52.2 | 3.9 | 51.7 | 3.8 | 36.0 | 2.6 |
| Hockey | 31.7 | 2.3 | 33.3 | 2.5 | 22.9 | 1.7 |
| Gymnastics | 12.6 | 0.9 | 22.5 | 1.7 | 21.6 | 1.6 |
| Netball | *6.4 | *0.5 | 8.2 | 0.6 | *1.7 | *0.1 |
| Other organised sports | 214.9 | 15.9 | 232.3 | 17.1 | 277.5 | 20.4 |
| Total organised sports(b) | 895.2 | 66.1 | 931.9 | 68.6 | 941.3 | 68.9 |
| FEMALES | | | | | | |
| Swimming | 203.1 | 15.8 | 225.5 | 17.5 | 236.8 | 18.2 |
| Netball | 234.9 | 18.2 | 233.0 | 18.1 | 224.1 | 17.3 |
| Tennis | 99.1 | 7.7 | 100.1 | 7.8 | 85.8 | 6.6 |
| Soccer (outdoor) | 37.3 | 2.9 | 54.8 | 4.2 | 82.6 | 6.4 |
| Basketball | 80.7 | 6.3 | 88.9 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 5.7 |
| Gymnastics | 55.1 | 4.3 | 69.9 | 5.4 | 71.7 | 5.5 |
| Athletics/track and field | 51.9 | 4.0 | 48.6 | 3.8 | 41.5 | 3.2 |
| Martial arts | 31.9 | 2.5 | 45.8 | 3.6 | 37.0 | 2.9 |
| Hockey | 32.5 | 2.5 | 33.0 | 2.6 | 28.9 | 2.2 |
| Australian Rules football | *4.1 | *0.3 | 9.4 | 0.7 | 11.9 | 0.9 |
| Cricket (outdoor) | 7.3 | 0.6 | 9.5 | 0.7 | *5.6 | *0.4 |
| Rugby League | *2.5 | *0.2 | **0.9 | **0.1 | *3.9 | *0.3 |
| Other organised sports | 156.9 | 12.2 | 164.2 | 12.7 | 231.0 | 17.9 |
| Total organised sports(b) | 673.0 | 52.3 | 698.5 | 54.2 | 749.8 | 57.8 |
|
| * estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution |
| ** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use |
| (a) Relates to children aged 5-14 years who participated in organised sport outside of school hours during the 12 months ending April. |
| (b) Total will be less than the sum of the components because some children participate in more than one sport. |
| Source: Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2006. |
Although boys had the higher participation rate in organised sport, girls had a much higher participation rate than boys in another form of organised physical activity - Dancing. During the 12 months ending April 2006, 300,100 girls participated in organised dancing outside of school hours - a participation rate of 23%. The number of boys participating was 32,500 - a participation rate of only 2.4%. Participation was similar to the level recorded for both boys and girls in 2003 (1.6% and 24% respectively).
Besides organised sport and dancing, the Survey of Children's Participation in Culture and Leisure Activities also asked about participation in two non-organised physical recreation activities - Bike riding and Skateboarding or rollerblading. For both activities, a higher percentage of boys (73% and 29% respectively) participated than did girls (62% and 18%).
Between April 2003 and April 2006, there was an increase in Bike riding by girls with the participation increasing from 53% to 62%. For boys there was a smaller increase in Bike riding over the same period (71% to 73%). However, for Skateboarding or rollerblading and Dancing, the participation rates for both boys and girls were stable over time.
3.6 CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN SELECTED PHYSICAL RECREATION ACTIVITIES, Characteristics of participants - 2000, 2003 and 2006 |
|
| 2000 | 2003 | 2006 |
| Number | Participation Rate | Number | Participation Rate | Number | Participation Rate |
| '000 | % | '000 | % | 000 | % |
MALES |
|
| Dancing(a) | 22.9 | 1.7 | 22.2 | 1.6 | 32.5 | 2.4 |
| Skateboarding or rollerblading(b) | 481.9 | 35.6 | 386.4 | 28.5 | 399.3 | 29.2 |
| Bike riding(b) | 963.1 | 71.1 | 957.4 | 70.5 | 1 003.0 | 73.4 |
FEMALES |
|
| Dancing(a) | 251.1 | 19.5 | 307.1 | 23.8 | 300.1 | 23.1 |
| Skateboarding or rollerblading(b) | 335.8 | 26.1 | 218.2 | 16.9 | 228.5 | 17.6 |
| Bike riding(b) | 723.0 | 56.2 | 687.4 | 53.3 | 803.2 | 61.9 |
|
| (a) Relates to children aged 5-14 years who participated in organised dancing (lessons or performances) outside of school hours during the 12 months prior to interview in April. |
| (b) Relates to children aged 5-14 years who participated in this non-organised activity outside of school hours during the past two school weeks prior to interview in April. |
| Source: Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2006 (cat. no. 4901.0). |
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