Exercise walking remained the No. 1 `activity in 2008 with another burst of new participants taking on the sport. Big gains were also seen in exercising with equipment, bicycle riding, and running/jogging, according to NSGAs annual “Sports Participation Series I and II” reports.
The top three sports were exercise walking, increasing 7.6% to 96.6 million participants; swimming, growing 6.1% to 64.5 million; and exercising with equipment, ahead 9.2% to 63.0 billion.
Other sports achieving double-digit gains included bicycle riding, rising 11.4% to 44.7 million; running/jogging, 18.2% to 35.9 million; and snowboarding, up 15.6% to 5.9 million.
Except for tackle football and ice hockey, all team sports showed solid to strong gains in participation in 2008. The biggest gain came in soccer, increased 12.5% to 15.5 million participants. Strong gains were also seen in basketball, up 5.7% to 29.7 million; and baseball, advancing 8.7% to 15.2 million.
Softball participants grew 3.6% to 12.8 million and tennis participants added 2.9% to 12.6 million. Volleyball, after several years of declines, increased 1% to 12.2 million. On the downside, football tackle decreased in participants by 3.7% to 10.5 million while ice hockey declined 7.7% to 1.9 million.
Two categories tracked for the first time, canoeing and cheerleading, had 10.3 million and 2.9 million participants, respectively.
The survey defined a participant as someone age seven or older who takes part in a sport or activity more than once in a calendar year. Of the 41 sports in the 2008 survey, 26 increased in participation and 15 showed declines.
