Prepared by the University of Florida Sport Policy & Research Collaborative

The purpose of this research brief is to review and describe the most rele‐ vant and recent data on the topic of sport participation rates among Amer‐ ican youth by various historically underserved populations. Specifically, data is aggregated and summarized by social class, race, gender, and disa‐ bility status. While the available data and research related to sport partici‐ pation and physical activity rates among youth is often scant and even non‐existent in some cases, what research that is available demonstrates several significant participation and activity gaps between wealthy and poor, Whites and racial minorities, boys and girls, and able‐bodied and disabled youth. More specifically, the available data suggests that now more than ever, it takes significant resources such as time, access, and money to develop as an athlete and be fully engaged in organized sport activities. This reality eliminates or limits access to quality sports opportunities for millions of American kids in low income families. Boys continue to have much greater access to sport opportunities than girls across all grade levels. Boys are al‐ so much more likely to achieve recommended physical activity levels than their girl counterparts. Hispanic children are much less likely to be physi‐ cally active than White children, and sport participation rates for White kids exceed that of African‐Americans, Hispanics, and Asian kids. Further‐ more, data on other historically marginalized groups such as Native‐ American children are not even reported in governmentally funded studies that track physical activity in youth.