70% of kids drop out of sports by the age of 13. Really? When I read that statistic I was intrigued, so I investigated. What I found was surprising.
The first time I saw that statistic was last year in an article entitled: "Why kids quit sports" – a post on the Active for Life website. After several email communications, that story has since been revised, but at the time, one of the statements in this post that tweaked my interest was the following: "... of the 20 million kids in the U.S. that sign up yearly for team sports like hockey, soccer, and baseball, almost 70 percent will quit by the time they're 13. The number of kids in Canada is different, but the percentage is the same."
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The statement now reads, "...of the 20 million kids in the
U.S. that sign up yearly for team sports like hockey, soccer, and baseball,
almost 70 percent will quit by the time they're 13 (according to Michigan State
University). The number of kids in Canada is different, but it's reasonable to
assume the percentage is similar." (At least that’s what it read at the time I wrote
this).
I had 2 problems with the original, and the revised, statement.
First, I thought the 70% drop-out statistic seemed high. Second, I was not
aware of similar Canadian data, even though the author of the post first seemed
sure and later thought it reasonable that the percentage is the same in Canada.
