Swimming remains most popular activity as children return to sport

Children are returning to sport with gymnastics joining swimming, football and dancing as Australia’s most popular pastimes.

An estimated 122,000 extra children took part in gymnastics this year according to the latest national AusPlay report from the Australian Sports Commission (ASC).

The ASC’s AusPlay data provide vital participation insights for key demographic groups and a review of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted sport and physical activity in Australia.

It found gymnastics is now the second most popular activity for girls with 465,000 participants and is ranked fifth for boys with 191,000 participants.

Swimming continues as the most popular sport for children with nearly two million (1,918,000) participants.

Commenting that it was good to see children return to regular sporting activity, Federal Minister for Sport, Anika Wells “children’s activity levels reached an all-time low in 2020-21 as organised sport was put on hold due to COVID-19. Although participation rates are not quite back to pre-pandemic levels they are heading in the right direction as children get back to the activities they enjoy.”

When it comes to motivations, Australians are still moving to improve their mental health and for social benefits and say that not having enough time is the biggest barrier to being active.

ASC Chief Executive, Kieren Perkins said the pandemic’s impact on sport and physical activity participation would be felt for years to come, adding “we saw that adults became more physically active during the pandemic with women driving a significant increase in participation, but this has since dropped back to pre-pandemic levels, while men’s participation rates have remained more stable.”

Australians continue to find different ways to get active, a trend that was already apparent but accelerated by COVID. The latest data shows this trend is continuing but at a slower pace.

Meanwhile, the number of Australian adults who say being active isn’t a priority has decreased after recording the highest ever result in AusPlay in 2021/22.

Perkins noted “last year, 11% of Australians told us being active wasn’t important to them. I’m pleased to say that figure has dropped to 8% but we still have work to do to ensure that we are providing welcoming places and spaces for all Australians to be involved in sport.”

Key findings from the latest AusPlay report:

• 78% of Australian adults participate in sport or physical activity at least once a week (down from 81%)

• Swimming, basketball, bushwalking, fitness/gym, Pilates and exergaming remain popular sports and activities for adults

• Fitness/gym is the most popular activity for 15 to 19-year-olds, followed by football/soccer for males and netball for females

• Children’s at least once a week participation is up from 47% to 52% (but still below pre-COVID levels of 59% in 2018/19)

• Children’s at least three times a week participation is up 16% to 20% (but still below pre-COVID levels of 24% in 2018/19)

The National Sport and Physical Activity Participation Report and COVID review report are available via the ASC's Clearinghouse for Sport.

Image: AusPlay figures show gymnastics is now the second most popular activity for girls with 465,000 participants. Credit: Gymnastics Australia.