WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans overwhelmingly see major benefits to children playing organized sports, a new poll finds, but higher-income families are more likely to participate.
Learning teamwork and reducing screen time are among the perceived benefits of youth sports, according to the AP-Ipsos survey.
About half of U.S. parents with K-12 school-aged children say their kids play a structured sport, but participation is higher among more affluent families. About 7 in 10 K-12 parents with a household income of at least $100,000 annually say their children play organized sports, compared to about 4 in 10 parents with a lower household income.
The findings point to a key problem in youth sports: parents almost universally see participation as an important part of kids’ childhood, but the out-of-pocket expenses can be significant, particularly for lower-income families.
“There's travel, the uniforms, pitching in on the lunches,” said Tanisha Curry, 51, who lives in Ohio. She has custody of her granddaughter, who plays volleyball through her school. It strains Curry's budget, but the whole family pitches in to keep the costs manageable.
“Kids don't go out and do things anymore,” she said. “Getting them away from a screen, at least for an hour — it's worth it.”
About two-thirds of K-12 parents with at least one child playing sports estimate spending up to $2,000 annually on equipment, fees, training and travel for youth athletics. More affluent sports parents spend about the same amount yearly as less affluent sports parents, which underscores the additional financial burden for lower-income families. Some parents hope the investment will pay off beyond the social benefits, with scholarships or other opportunities.
Despite the demands — and hefty cost — K-12 sports parents overwhelmingly say the benefits of youth sports outweigh the drawbacks.
Jon Fassnacht, a 47-year-old dad in Pennsylvania, has seen his 9-year-old daughter push herself physically and mentally through competitive swimming. She got involved in the sport after taking swim lessons, and he has been thrilled to see her build her confidence over multiple seasons as she improves her swim times.
“It’s just so good for her self-esteem to have that goal setting,” Fassnacht said. “And then there’s the social aspect on top of it. She’s kind of shy, so to have these opportunities to meet new people outside of her school is big.”
Soccer, basketball and softball or baseball are among the most commonly played sports, the poll found.
Nearly all U.S. adults say learning to deal with adversity, improving physical fitness, learning teamwork, making friends, reducing technology time and learning about hard work and commitment are “major” and “minor” benefits for children playing organized sports, the poll found.
Some of that perceived benefit may come from adults’ own experiences. About three-quarters of adults who played organized sports as a child say playing sports had a “mostly positive impact” on their childhood, and about 6 in 10 say it positively influenced their adulthood.
About three-quarters of K-12 sports parents say their children have ever played on a recreational sports team, and about two-thirds say their kids have played on a school sports team. Around half say their kids have played in specialized youth sports camps or done independent sports training, while about 4 in 10 say their kids have participated in travel or club sports teams or done private lessons.
Most K-12 sports parents face challenges when children play organized sports.
About 8 in 10 say that scheduling and logistics — or the time commitment — present a “major” or “minor” challenge for their household. Roughly 7 in 10 say the same about team or club fees, the amount of travel involved and the equipment or uniform costs.
In addition to the roughly two-thirds of sports parents who estimate spending up to $2,000 annually on equipment, fees, training and travel for their children’s athletics, roughly 2 in 10 spend more than $2,000 but less than $5,000. Only about 1 in 10 K-12 sports parents spend more than $5,000 annually.
Kathryn Stuczynski, 37, said she and her husband budget in order to make sure they can afford the activities their 7-year-old and 13-year-old daughters are passionate about, including karate, grappling and wrestling. Stuczynski, from New York, says their household skips buying the latest iPhone or a new TV in order to keep their budget manageable.
“Giving my girls life experiences, it’s priceless,” she said. “I’d rather have the old phone, you know? I’m fine with that.”
In general, more affluent sports parents — those in households that make at least $100,000 annually — spend about the same as sports households with lower incomes. Higher-income households are more likely to say they spend more than $5,000, though that is still atypical. About 1 in 10 households that make at least $100,000 spend over $5,000, compared to almost no lower-income households.
Despite the challenges, the vast majority of sports parents feel good about their children playing organized sports. About 8 in 10 sports parents say “proud” describes how they feel “extremely” or “very” well, and a similar share say that about “happy.”
Relatively few K-12 athletes will go on to play at the collegiate level or earn athletic scholarships, but the poll shows many sports parents have it on their minds. About 8 in 10 sports parents say the possibility of improving college acceptance odds is at least a “minor” benefit of kids playing organized sports.
Stuczynski has seen her 13-year-old daughter excel at wrestling and believes she has the potential to get a college scholarship in the sport if she sticks with it, but she and her husband are letting their daughter's passion and competitiveness drive her future with sports.
“We would never force it,” Stuczynski said. “We’ll go as hard as she wants to go, basically.”
About 6 in 10 sports parents say the hope of their child earning an athletic scholarship or improving their college acceptance odds plays either “a major role” or “a minor role” in the decision to enroll their kids in sports, though only about 3 in 10 say either played a “major role” in their decision.
Less affluent parents are more likely than more affluent parents to say the possibility of their child improving college acceptance odds, earning an athletic scholarship or earning NIL money played a “major” role in their decision to enroll their child in sports, while more affluent parents are more likely to say it played “no role.”
Fassnacht, from Pennsylvania, hopes his daughter will continue swimming through high school because of the physical and mental benefits, but he’s not expecting her to make a career of it.
“I’m more focused on the benefits to her,” he said. “If she ever stops enjoying it, then we’ll move on to something else.”
The poll of 1,737 adults was conducted July 21-26, 2026, using a sample drawn from Ipsos’ probability-based KnowledgePanel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. It included interviews with 510 parents of school-aged children who play youth sports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2.7 percentage points for adults overall and +/- 4.9 percentage points for parents of school-aged children who play youth sports.
FILE - Friends practice volleyball at a local park in Gilbert, Ariz., March 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
