General Article Who plays sport?

Topic Selected: Sport
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The national picture

Sport England’s data gives an insight into who plays sport and how they play it.

Sport England’s data for 2013/14 shows that:

  • 15.6 million adults now play sport at least once a week. That’s 1.7 million more than in 2005/6
  • In addition, over 900,000 14–15-year-olds play sport at least once a week
  • Most adults – 52% – still do not play sport
  • 17.4% of adults now take part in at least three sport sessions a week – up from 15.5% in 2005/6
  • There has been a statistically significant increase in six out of the nine English regions from 2005/6 to 2013/14.

 

Who plays sport?

The number of adults who play sport at least once a week is on the rise – but just over half of all adults play no sport.

There are a number of key factors in sports participation:

Gender

Gender has a big influence on sports take-up. More men play sport than women. Currently 40.9% of men play sport at least once a week, compared to 30.3% of women. At a younger age, men are much more lik...

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