More kids quitting sports over unaffordable price tag
More and more children are forced to retire from sports before their careers really get started. A major culprit: The cost. “The amount of kids playing sports is actually dramatically decreasing, and especially with lower-income and middle-class income families, and the main reason why is of course the cost of it,” Sports reporter Mike Gunzelman told the FOX Business Network’s ‘FBN:AM.’
According to a survey by The Aspen Institute in 2018 only 38 percent of children ages 6 to 12 played team sports regularly, a decline from 45 percent in 2008.
“The average family will spend about $700 per year on it, but some families spend upwards of $30,000 for their kids per year on sports,” Gunzelman said.
The survey reports that “children from low-income families are half as likely to play sports as kids from upper-income homes, according to separate research from SFIA.”
Gunzelman explained that even for kids who may not eventually play sports at a college level, it still has an impact on their efforts to get into college.
“Sports is so competitive, especially if you’re trying to get to college…not only if you’re going to play sports in college, but you want to play to seem like you’re well rounded,” Gunzelman said.
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On the other hand, in the college admissions scandal some parents allegedly lied about their children playing sports to pad their child’s application.
“Part of the things that Lori Loughlin and them lied about was that their kids played sports because it looked that much better.”