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Online now: 2 members: TABLE SETTER 11, Tab27; 92 anonymousDiscussion: Which Sports Do More Americans Participate In?
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| July 1, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | Which Sports Do More Americans Participate In? The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association has put out its list of sport by sport participation in the United States. This is one of these lists that each year I'm completely fascinated with. So here is the best of the best from 2014: • Bird-watching is among the top 10 activities Americans aged 55-64 would like to do. • More than 49 million people now run, up 12.6% in 2014 and up 57.4% over the last decade. • An amazing 1.9 million people participated in triathlons in 2014, up 63.7% from the year before. • The Treadmill is being used by 42.5% more Americans than it was in 2000, while the amount of people that use the Cross Country Ski Machine is down 52.9%. • The fastest rising piece of gym equipment is the Elliptical Trainer, which was used by 29.1 million people in 2014, up from 7.3 million in 2000. • Between 2008 and 2010, Yoga participation increased by 23%. • Water sports are suffering. Over the last decade, Jet Skiing (down 18.2%), Scuba Diving (down 26.8%) and Water Skiing (down 44.8%) have all been affected. The only water sport on the rise? Surfing (Aloha, Fabe ), up 26.3% in the last 10 years. • Despite the growth of the NFL, Tackle Football participation is down 16.1% over the last decade. • The fastest growing sport over the last decade is Lacrosse (up 218%), even though the numbers are small. For example, nine times more people participate in Baseball than Lacrosse. • In the oddball category, there are 3.2 million Cheerleaders in this country, up 22.7% since 2000 and 19.4 million people now play Ping Pong, up a whopping 53% in the last decade. • Things aren't good if it has wheels. All down over the last decade? Roller Skating (down 63.6%), Roller Hockey (down 65.3%) and Skateboarding (down 30.9%). • Other sports that are on a huge decline over the last decade include Wrestling (down 44.2%) and Slow-Pitch Softball (down 42.9%). • The saddest number in the report? 36% of all inactive Americans are under 34 years old. |
| July 1, 2015 Fabe Men's 65 456 posts | Sparky, mahalo for sharing...high tech toys has ruined our active culture! I thank God for my health, skill n living where I can surf....even at my age! Stayn active has kept my quality of life steady n I am bless for dat! Aloha, Fabe |
| July 1, 2015 Omar Khayyam 1357 posts | Sparky.1, thanks for the information. Extremely interesting. What should be of concern to readers of this forum is the rapid decline of slow-pitch softball in the past decade. If we lose the younger ones now, I doubt if they will start to play again once the half-century mark comes around. Very troubling. I have expressed my opinion many times on this forum that I believe the lessening of standards and conditions (particularly the composite bat and its consequences) is very much a part of the reason that senior softball has plateaued, and if you count how many more men have entered the golden years, it is actually declining as a participation sport. I make the analogy to bowling. Back in the day, I was a top-rank bowler. Within a 15 minute drive in the suburbs where I live, I could bowl at nine establishments. Now there is one, ONE!, in that circle of 15 minutes. What happened? In order to make more bowlers think they were really good, lighter pins became the norm; sideboards were bouncier for more pin action; lanes were goosed to head the ball toward the pocket. Result? When I had the highest average in the County (14 bowling alleys), a 200 average was rare (there were about 6-10 in the County). When I lost interest in the too easy conditions and stopped bowling, a 200 average was rather commonplace. And already within 5 years, three bowling alleys closed. Bit by bit they went broke as serious bowlers lost interest due to the soft conditions. Now there are 3 establishments in the entire County! How many teams will there be in softball within ten years? |
| July 2, 2015 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | I'm thinking those facts don't disclose everything. For instance, Slow-pitch Softball. It is no longer played here in high schools, they have switched to fast pitch. I would much rather see numbers instead of percentages. |
| July 2, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | BruceinGa: Must be a "southern-thing" because I have never heard of any type of Slow-Pitch Softball" program/league/etc. to ever be part of a High School athletic program whether male or female. Fast-pitch however was a staple for the girls athletic programs in every High School. Like to know what school districts in the south participate in Slow-Pitch. Believe you will find only Fast-Pitch which in today's world, is almost completely extinct for Men's play. |
| July 2, 2015 17Black Men's 60 414 posts | ^^^^ Ohio had both girls Fast and Slow-pitch softball going on until the early 2000's until the OHSAA made everybody go to fast-pitch. My local high school won a state championship in slow-pitch before the conversion. When I was in high school in the 70's, I played baseball. However, we did, at the time have club level boys slow pitch softball that played against all the same schools and conference we had for baseball. Decent uniforms (for the 70's anyway) and everything. Slow Pitch was HUGE beyond huge in Northern Ohio from the 60's even up until the Mid to late 90's and then it started nose diving FAST. The local softball complex here in Mentor Ohio had two weeknight leagues of 8 teams Monday thru Thursdays for years as well as a huge Sunday morning program----------There was a waiting list for at least 20 years for teams trying to get into the weeknight leagues even as late as 1999. NOW-------fast forward to 2015-----------that softball complex has NO men's slow pitch program at all--------and that pretty much goes for almost every suburban town here in the Cleveland area----it's a shame!!!! |
| July 2, 2015 TexasTransplant Men's 70 516 posts | Bruce, I saw Oklahoma high school girls slow pitch championship on one of the regional sports channels either this year or last. Pretty sure Ok. has fast pitch as well. |
| July 2, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | The greatest era of Slow-pitch Softball players in history reflects the greatest golden age of Slow-pitch Softball, which was the mid-late 1970's and early-mid 1980's. These prolific players and teams who were the bulk of the 50 greatest teams of all time, will never be repeated. These teams and players set the all time standards for excellence and power. Jacking home runs over 400 ft, much less 500 ft., was virtually limited to less than a hundred players. Only 4 players in verified recorded history, hit the ball over 500'. All of the new high-tech bats and balls have destroyed the game and there's no coming back. Now almost anyone regardless of age, can hit the ball over the 300 ft. fence. The 'awe' of the home run is destroyed and that is part of what Slow-pitch Softball was all about. The home runs hit with these newer bats are superficial. These hitters really think they're 'King Kong', which is the joke. It really was an honor and a privilege to have been a part of the game back in its hey-day. Look what they had to do with the instituting of the 1-1 starting count and home run limits with this new equipment. They 'ruined' the game. They allowed the vast majority to live the lie that they are like Bruce Meade, Mike Macenko and the other power-men of the golden age of Slow-Pitch Softball. The ages after this golden era, have progressively gotten more uninteresting and very superfluous. |
| July 2, 2015 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | Not every girl can play fast pitch, and not every boy can play baseball. Some of the surrounding towns here in Indy have good slow pitch programs for the girls; they are not affiliated with the high school sports. The only place that I have ever seen boy's slow pitch is in Columbus, Ohio at Berliner. I have pitched the idea to Midwest several times about developing a local summer program for boys and girls at the park especially since the diamonds are generally empty during the day. I also suggested that this not only helps build a future client base, but if you have a league that the boys and girls can play coed together at 16, this is probably a huge hook (especially for the boys?). Of course like anything else if I was willing to donate my time and build it, they would love it. They are in it for the business; I am not. If I am going to give up my time, it is going to be for what I am passionate about which is senior softball. Slow pitch softball is basically a baby boomer sport. I disagree that the newer bats have been a factor in cutting the number of players. This happened because of attrition, other sports for the young, sponsorship dollars drying up, and other factors. I never heard anyone say that they quit because of composite bats. Now I am a little younger than some of you, but I remember the revolution when Ray DeMarini introduced the concept of bat speed. Some of you really complained because you liked your 38 ounce bat. You probably swing a 28 or 30 one now though. I have not seen a bat over 30 in a very long time. Back then I struggled to even find a 30. I have my 25, 25.5, and 26 that I am very happy with because I am a little fellow. Things change. Traditions die. Let's enjoy this sport as long as we can. |
| July 2, 2015 Tim Millette 615 posts | I walked away from the Concord ca league I had played in for 25 years for one reason...shaved/altered bats... No need to go out and play against some inferior player hitting the ball harder and farther then you because she spent $75 to get the bat doctored. And one more thing...Ray didn't invent the bat speed concept...that started before Ray (1993 double wall) with thinner walled aluminum bat "trampoline" technogy... What used to create power was....mass plus speed equaled power...that changed to mass being less important with bat flex/trampoline thin walled bats... |
| July 2, 2015 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | Tim, now shaved and altered bats are a whole different subject than just composite or not. The first time that I heard the concept of bat speed was from Ray; so maybe it was not original. I think that I still have a copy of his shows somewhere. I still have that DeMarini bat with Coachie's collection. I do know from the videos that we started carrying a Wiffle ball bat as he said that this was a better way to train the muscles without loading them like a weighted bat and promoted bat speed. I sure miss those Sunday nights at Metro after leagues were over. We would play Wiffle ball and drink beer sometimes until the sun came up. There was a group from Missouri that had their own field and welcomed all to play them. We never went down, but we bought 2 models of their metal Wiffle ball bats. I remember on Sunday nights/Monday mornings that we called them the double walls. |
| July 2, 2015 neck10 714 posts | nancy did big arm close that gate?????????????????????????? |
| July 2, 2015 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | Of course he didn't. He knew that the shortstop was going to throw the ball wide and give them an extra base, right? I told you if you could convince me that he was cheating right then that I would have a different answer. I don't think either of us believe that he was thinking that far ahead. Balls keep going through even when the gate is shut though. Timmy really needs to spend some of your $3 on field maintenance. Bats disappear all the time just right of the plate. Thanks for adopting me; you have been a good friend and know how to make me laugh...except maybe in some tournament situations. God bless Kinnco, and have a fun and safe 4th. |
| July 2, 2015 hombre Men's 60 240 posts | Because there are so many opinions as to the reason for the decline in the number of men playing slow-pitch softball, I decided to do a little research into the objective reasons. I found a great site called ATHLETIC BUSINESS , The Resource for Athletic, Fitness & Recreation Professionals. In an article entitled " Slow-Pitch Softball's Participation Decline Challenges Rec Professionals ", There were a number of objective, statistically based articles followed by a subjective one written by a disgruntled, embittered old ball player. The general consensus for the decline are as follows: 1. We baby boomers were the driving force behind SPS during it's heyday in the 70's and 80's. We are dying off and are not being replaced by younger players. High school graduates are not playing, The core of SPS, ages 25-34, has dropped 400,000 since 2008. In a 30 and over league in Wisc. the average age is 45-50. 2. Parents and grandparents are devoting their time and resources to their children and grandchildren instead of playing themselves. 3. Park and recreation associations are allocating more and more money to girl's softball and other sports. 4. Many of the softball fields are being converted to girl's softball, youth's baseball and other sports. There are other reasons that are often discussed on this board such as cost, fear of injury, and dissatisfaction with balls, bats and the way the game has evolved, but they are almost insignificant to the factors mentioned above. Sparky 1, Did you write the original letter in ATHLETIC BUSINESS, or just paraphrase it and clean it up by omitting the parts about "punk players living the lie" and "little pansies" hitting the ball 300 feet? Unless you wrote the original letter, you might consider giving the original author credit. Plagiarism? I encourage everyone to read the article. |
| July 2, 2015 Sparky.1 Men's 75 284 posts | Hombre: I just cleaned it up........Here's your plagiarism statement.......I never claimed any author status......To sooth your nerves, the author is: Med, who wrote the article on Thursday, 21 June 2012 |
| July 2, 2015 cyborg45 Men's 75 194 posts | I would agree with Nancy and Hombre. It is a "boomer sport". In Florida and the west coast, the participation is pretty high among seniors. Many former players are now doing other things with children and grandchildren instead of playing. In addition, many complexes now devote more tournaments to the girls fastpitch game because it is more lucrative. Tournament directors have told me that the girls fastpitch tournaments generate far more revenue than a senior tournament. More teams, more things bought by parents and grandparents. I do not think that the "hot senior bats" is contributing to any sort of decline in the game. Quite the contrary actually. I think the participation would be less if we had, say ASA bats. However, I would gladly go back to the double walls and 47/520 super blue dots. |
