SPARC Facts 1997-2001

Young people's participation in sport and active leisure¹⁰

Almost all young people (92% or 669,000) take part in some sport or active leisure.

Participation rates are high for boys (93%) and girls (91%).

Over two-thirds of boys (67%) and girls (70%) are involved in sport and active leisure at school.

Around one in five boys and girls (21% in each case) also take part in sports and activities organised by the school before or after the main school day.

Around a third of young people play sport with a club, although this is more common for boys (38%) than girls (28%).

Around two-thirds of young people (68%) also enjoy playing sport and being active with family or friends. This again is more common for boys (72%) than girls (63%), and is especially true for European young people (63% of European girls participate in sport or active leisure with family and friends compared to around 75% of European boys). There is little difference between Māori boys and girls (68% and 66% respectively), with Pacific boys and girls (59% and 61%) and other ethnic group young people (62% and 59% respectively).

For young people aged 5 to 15 years participation is at a high rate (92% or over), but for 16 and 17 year-olds it is noticeably lower – 78%. 84% of Pacific young people play sport or are active in their leisure time. Almost all young Māori (92%) and young people from a European background (93%) enjoy some form of sport or active leisure, as do young people from other ethnic groups (90%).

Participation by young people in sport and active leisure at school, with clubs and with family/friends¹¹

Note: The figures show the percentage and estimated number of young people participating in sport and active leisure in the two weeks before the interview. The number of participants is rounded to the nearest 1,000. The number of participants in individual categories (e.g. the age groups) may not sum to the total shown for all young people because the figures are rounded.

The extent to which young people participate in sport and active leisure at school, with clubs and with family and friends varies between their ages and ethnic groups as the table above shows. Young people under the age of 15 are more likely to participate in sport and active leisure than teenagers who are 16-17 years. The exception to this is sport and active leisure organised by the school outside school hours, when teenagers aged 16-17 years (28%) are more likely to participate than younger children, in particular those aged 5-8 years (11%).

Overall, Pacific young people are also less likely than those from Māori, European and other ethnic groups to participate in sport and active leisure. They participate at similar levels to other young people (in particular Māori and European young people) during, before and after school but do not participate in sport and active leisure to the same extent with clubs or with family and friends.

Young Māori participate in sport and active leisure at a similar level to young people of European descent, apart from with clubs. Around three in 10 young Māori (29%) take part in sport and active leisure with clubs, while the figure is 37% for European young people.

Young people from other ethnic groups are also less likely to participate at school during school hours, with clubs or with family and friends.

The 1998/99 and the 2000/01 surveys identified what sports and activities young people play overall, and what sports and active leisure young people play at school – before, during and/or after school hours.

The top five sports and activities young people took part in overall are shown in the following tables (including by gender and ethnic group), as are the top five sports and activities young people take part in at school (before, during and/or after school hours).

Top five sports and active leisure activities overall

Top five sports and active leisure activities by gender

Note: The figures show the percentage of young boys and girls who participate in each sport/activity with clubs, before, during and after school and with family and friends – for example, 32% of girls participate in swimming.

Top five sports of young people overall by ethnic groups

Top three active leisure activities of young people overall by different ethnic groups

Top five sports and active leisure activities before, during and after school¹²

The 1997/98, 1998/99 and the 2000/01 surveys all asked about the sports and activities young people took part in with clubs and with family and friends. The top five sports and active leisure played by boys and girls are shown in the following tables.

Top five sports and active leisure activities played with clubs¹²

Note: The figures show the percentage of young club members who participate in each sport/activity – for example, 19% of boys play soccer organised by a club; the figure for all boys is around 23%.

Top five sports and active leisure activities with family and friends¹²

Note: The figures show the percentage of young people who participate in each sport/activity with family and friends – for example, 24% of boys swim with family and friends, the figure for all boys being around 27%.

10 Active leisure is the term given to a range of physical activities to distinguish them from inactive leisure pursuits (such as reading, spectating, board games). The term active leisure was used in the first Sport and Physical Activity survey report published by the Hillary Commission in 1999 and has been continued in this report for consistency.

11 Note these results are different to the results of the New Zealand Secondary Sports Council Census (which includes data on sport representation) and other surveys of Secondary Schools Sports conducted over recent years. This is because the surveys ask some different questions about sport and physical activity participation so are not directly comparable.

12 These figures are based only on those young people who participated in at least one sport or physical activity in the two weeks prior to the interview.