Sport results

The Active People Survey 2 provides a wealth of sport specific data which enables analysis of which sports are growing and which are not.

Once a week participation rates

Pivotal to Sport England’s 2008-11 strategy is the commissioning of national governing bodies of sport ( NGBs ) by Sport England.

NGBs will contribute to Sport England’s strategic goals by setting targets to increase the ‘once a week’ adult participation rates in their sport.

The growth targets across sports will contribute to Sport England’s overall target of getting one million people doing more sport by 2012/13.

Participation in each sport is defined as the percentage of the adult population (age 16 plus) who have taken part in the sport at moderate intensity for 30 minutes or more at least once in the last week (at least four days out of the previous 28 days).

• In the two-year period between 2005/6 (Active People Survey 1) and 2007/8 (Active People Survey 2), 14 of the 46 sports that are eligible for four-year funding from Sport England have shown a statistically significant increase in participation.
• The largest increases, in numbers of participants, have occurred in athletics, cycling and football

Monthly participation rates

participation once in the last four weeks across all individual sports and recreational activities

The Active People Survey measures participation across over 250 different sports and recreational activities. Within the survey, respondents are asked about their participation over the last four weeks. This therefore enables analysis of sport specific participation rates across all sports, based on participation at least once in the last four weeks (any intensity or duration).

Below are some highlights from the sport results:

• Football participation (indoor and outdoor) has grown from 2.91 million adults (7.1%) to 3.12 million adults (7.6%), an increase of 232,000 participants.
• Gym participation has grown from 4.27 million adults (10.5%) to 4.45 million adults (10.7%), an increase of 182,000 participants.
• Athletics participation has grown by 460,000 participants, from 2.04 million adult participants (5.0%) to 2.50 million adults (6.0%). This includes athletics track/field, running and jogging.
• Participation in golf has increased from 1.46 million adults (3.6%) to 1.54 million adults (3.7%), an increase of 87,000 participants.