More Gym: More Team

It is this simple: Physical education classes in schools keep high school students involved in team sports. An NSGA analysis of data on sports and fitness participation among high school students gathered by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) for 1999 (the most recent data) clearly indicates students with a lower rate of participation in P.E. classes have a lower participation in team sports.

Here are the numbers a good team dealer will want to share with his school customers:

? Among 9th graders, 82% of boys participated in P.E. programs, 64% played on a sports team. Among 9th-grade girls, 76% participated in P.E., and 53% played on a sports team.

? Although the percentage of boys and girls engaged in P.E. programs drops dramatically as one moves through the 10th, 11th and 12th grade levels, boys continued to play on a sports team at about the same rate through the four years of high school ? slightly more than 60%. For girls, the number declines from 53% as freshmen to 42% as seniors.

? The decline in participation in P.E. programs is much higher among girls than boys. Although 65% of freshman girls were in P.E. programs, only 29% of senior girls were. The decline among boys was from 82% as freshmen to 44% as seniors.

? Nationwide, 55.1% of students played on a sports team during the 12 months preceding the survey. Overall, males (61.7%) were much more likely to play on a team than females (48.5%), and this gender disparity crosses all racial and ethnic lines.

? Freshmen were more likely than seniors to have played on a sports team, which seems to confirm the generally accepted wisdom that says that as athletes get older and move up the ladder in a given sport, fewer of them play, due in part to fewer teams and roster spots.

? High school girls follow a direct progression, with 53.4% of freshmen playing a sport, 50.9% of sophomores, 45.8% of juniors and 42.3% of seniors.

? Among boys, there is a drop but not quite as pronounced. More freshman boys (63.9%) played on a sports team than other years, 62.3% of sophomores, 58.8% of juniors and 60.7% of seniors, the only class that showed an increase.

Need any more convincing? Here's the clincher: Illinois ? the only state that requires P.E. five days a week ? ranked No. 1, with 60.3% of students who played on a team sport.

For team dealers, these results should lead to a number of proactive moves:

1. Join in industry lobbying efforts to promote physical education in schools. It can only mean more business for you.

2. Share this information with your school clients. Try to get it passed up the ladder to school and district administrators all the way to the school board, since they are the ones who make the curriculum decisions. Enlist the help of your coaches and athletic directors, since they obviously have a vested interest.

3. If you're looking for growth opportunities and like to crunch some numbers, find out the P.E. policies of districts in your area. The numbers clearly indicate there is a correlation between P.E. participation and participation in school sports. The more gym class, the more after-school sports participation. ? SGD