Recent trends in participation
According to Sport England鈥檚 Active People survey 2014/15:
- The number of people participating in sports has increased by over a million since the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
- Swimming, one of the country's most popular activities, has seen a recent decline in participation rates.
- In the fitness sector, fewer people are taking part in aerobic style classes, while more people are attending high intensity pilates and yoga sessions.
- Running is increasing in popularity (park runs, colour runs).
- Tennis participation is increasing (more availability).
- Basketball is becoming more popular, especially in schools and further education establishments.
- In 2014/15 the top five sports for adults were: swimming, running, cycling, football and golf.
According to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in the 2011 survey:
- Walking, swimming and health and fitness activities had the greatest number of participants.
- Cycling, running, football and snooker/pool were also in the top ten.
- Men are more likely to take part in sport than women.
- Women are more likely to do health and fitness activities and go jogging, while men are more likely to play football and snooker/pool.
According to the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation in 2012:
- Football is the most popular team sport for women with more than 250,000 participating. Only one in seven of these are women from BME communities.
- Men's football, men's cricket and men's rugby are the top three team sports in terms of participation. The next two are women's football and women's netball.
- The 16-19 age group has the highest percentage of football players, both men's and women's.
Sports Coach UK on disability sports in 2011:
- Participation has nearly doubled in the last few years to around 34% of the population.
- Equestrianism is one of the most popular sports for people with a psychological disability.
- Transport is one of the major barriers to participation for disabled people.
What some National Governing Bodies (NGBs) say:
- England Netball 鈥 in 2013/14 participation in netball had increased with more than 150,000 people playing at least 30 minutes a week.
- England Hockey 鈥 in 2010/11 there had been a small decline in overall participation in the last few years; more men but fewer women are playing at least once a week.
- England Basketball 鈥 in 2014, participation in basketball had increased to more than 150,000, which included a growth in both female and BME participation.