Gender and Sports
128,209
women participate on 7,684 teams, compared to 200,627 men participating
on 7,705 teams. (1)
The difference between the number of men and women participating on NCAA teams can be mostly accounted by the fact there are no female football and wrestling teams. Male football and wrestling teams account for 60,203 athletes. (1)
13,392
women participate on 966 basketball teams, compared to 15,141 men on 950
basketball teams. (1)
2,323
women participate on 282 golf teams, compared to 7,197 men on 678 teams.
(1)
436
women participate on 22 ice hockey teams, compared to 3,608 men on 125
ice hockey teams. (1)
Equal
number of male and female lacrosse and skiing teams exist, 182 teams each
for lacrosse with 5,705 male athletes and 4,068 female athletes and 40
skiing teams each with 455 female athletes and 575 male athletes. (1)
More
female teams than male teams exist for cross country (838 versus 792),
fencing (42 versus 36), gymnastics (91 versus 28), soccer (691 versus 681),
squash (26 versus 25), swimming (432 versus 368), tennis (859 versus 776),
track indoor (528 versus 512), track outdoor (644 versus versus 625), and
volleyball (923 versus 74). (1)
High school participation:
From
1971 to 1998 the number of girl participating in sports has increased from
294,105 to 2,570,333, while male participation has practically stayed the
same from 3,666,917 to 3,763,120. (2)
16,428
schools have female basketball teams, which have 454,000 athletes, compared
to 16,617 schools that have male basketball teams, which have 544,463 athletes.
(2)
7,468
schools have female soccer teams with 246,687 athletes, compared to 8,859
schools with male soccer teams with 309,484 athletes. (2)
9,297
schools have female tennis teams with 151,539 athletes, compared to 9,364
schools with male tennis teams with 137,827 athletes. (2)
14,284 schools
have female outdoor track & field teams with 395,955 athletes, compared
to 14,612 schools with male outdoor track & field teams with 471,175
athletes. (2)
5,360 schools
have female swimming & diving teams with 126,062 athletes, compared
to 5,098 schools with male swimming & diving teams with 83,781 athletes.
(2)
11,097 schools
have female cross country teams with 150,846 athletes, compared to 11,693
school with male cross country teams with 178,672 athletes. (2)
12,326 schools
have softball with 333,374 athletes, compared to 14,407 schools have baseball
teams with 449,897 athletes. (2)
The ten most popular sports for high school boys by participation:
1. football, 2. basketball, 3. outdoor track & field, 4. baseball, 5. soccer, 6. wrestling, 7. cross country, 8. golf, 9. tennis, 10. swimming & diving. (2)
The ten most popular sports for high school girls by participation:
1. basketball, 2. outdoor track & field, 3. volleyball, 4. softball fast pitch, 5. soccer, 6. tennis, 7. cross country, 8. swimming & diving, 9. competitive spirit squads, 10. field hockey. (2)
General adult population:
35 percent of
women play sports, compared to 56 percent of men. (3)
Women and the purchase of sporting goods:
7 percent of hunting equipment sales.
(4)
14 percent of fishing tackle sales.
(4)
16 percent of golf equipment sales.
(4)
32 percent of camping equipment
sales. (4)
56 percent of exercise equipment
sales. (4)
Sources:
1- The National Collegiate Athletic Association, (NCAA), 1996-1997 Participation Study.
2- National Federation of State High School Associations, 1997 High School Athletics Participations Survey.
3- U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, 1997 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, Research Division Report #39, December 1998.
4- National Sporting Goods Association, Mt. Prospect,
Ill. The Sporting Goods Market in 1998.
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