Characteristics of school-sanctioned sports: participation and attrition in Wisconsin public high schools.

INTRODUCTION Successful approaches are needed to decrease the burden of obesity on America's youth. Researchers often look to the high school interscholastic sports experience as a promising area for intervention. The purpose of this paper is to examine trends in participation over the course of a 4-year educational period. METHODS Two research questions are posed in this study: (1) how does participation in interscholastic sports change over the high school interscholastic sports experience, and (2) how do gender and school size influence these patterns? To answer these questions, a panel study is used to prospectively follow 412 Wisconsin public high schools from freshman year (2000-2001) to senior year (2003-2004). Participation prevalence (percent participation) in freshman year and risk of attrition (defined as a reduction in prevalence) from freshman to senior year are reported for sport, gender, and school size characteristics. RESULTS Overall sports participation is greatest in smaller schools versus larger schools for both females (36% versus 20%) and males (38% versus 25%). Most high school sports exhibit declines in participation, including those sports with the highest prevalence of freshman participation. Compared to sports participants attending large schools, participants attending small schools have a lower risk of attrition from freshman to senior year. However, female attrition is much higher than male attrition in small schools, whereas this difference is not as apparent in large schools. CONCLUSION The results of this research suggest school size and gender play important roles in initial and sustained involvement during high school. Despite the potential immediate and long-term benefits of high school interscholastic sports participation, there is limited research that prospectively examines patterns of participation through high school. Expanding the use of this measurement approach may effectively promote physical activity as youth grow into adults.