5-II. Participation in Sport Clubs and School Sport Clubs by Children and Young People (Sport Clubs)

1. Sport Club Memberships for Children Aged 4-11 Years

In “The 2021 SSF National Sports-Life Survey for Children and Young People”, children aged 4-11 years were asked about their enrollment in school sport clubs, private sport clubs (such as swimming and gymnastic clubs) and community sport clubs (junior sport clubs, sport classes, etc.).

The enrollment rate for children aged 4-11 was 58.3%, as indicated in Figure 5-3. Regarding gender, 61.8% of boys were enrolled compared to 54.9% of girls, a difference of 6.9 percentage points. Although this gender disparity in enrollment rates was nonexistent among preschool children, it was significant for elementary school students. In terms of school year, 43.0% of preschool children, 53.8% of first and second grades, 66.2% of third and fourth grades and 65.8% of fifth and sixth grades were enrolled, peaking in the third and fourth grades and increasing as the grades increased. Over half of elementary school students were enrolled in sport clubs.

Regarding the results by types of sport club, “Private sport clubs (swimming clubs, gymnastic clubs, etc.)” showed the highest rate with 61.7%, followed by “Community sport clubs (junior sport clubs, sport classes, dojo, etc.) with 32.3% and “Sport clubs at schools” with 24.7% (Figure 5-4). The data suggests that private sport clubs are an important activity location for children in this age group.

2. Sport Club Memberships for Young People Aged 12-21 Years

According to “The 2021 SSF National Sports-Life Survey for Children and Young People”, 44.6% of young people aged 12-21 years were members of sport clubs (in school sport clubs, local community clubs such as junior sport clubs, and private sport clubs such as swimming and gymnastic clubs) in 2021 (Figure 5-5).

By gender, boys accounted for 52.5% of sport club members, while girls accounted for 36.6%, showing a difference of 15.9 percentage points, which is bigger than a difference among children aged 4-11 years. By school year, the highest membership rate was found in junior high school years at 71.0%. The membership rate decreased to 49.6% in high school years and then 25.8% in college years. It can be said that high school years are a turning point for young people in terms of joining sport clubs. Moreover, the membership rate in young workers was significantly low, at 9.8%.

Regarding types of sport clubs, “Sport clubs at schools” ranked the highest at 78.7%, followed by “Community sport clubs (junior sport clubs, sport classes, dojo, etc.)” at 11.3% and “Private sport clubs (swimming clubs, gymnastic clubs, etc.)” at 8.3% (Figure 5-6).

3. School Sport Clubs in Junior High School

When focused on the changes in the total number of junior high school students and their membership rate in school sport clubs, the total number of students has decreased in the past five years, with the declining birthrate (Figure 5-7). The membership rate in school sport clubs also shows a gradual downward trend from 65.5% in 2016 to 61.4% in 2021. By gender, the membership rates of boys and girls both have dropped from 75.4% in 2016 to 69.5% in 2021 for boys, from 55.1% in 2016 to 52.9% in 2021 for girls.

Regarding the number of students registered by types of sport in 2021, “Football” had the largest number with 167,256 students (a registration rate of 14.6%) for boys, followed by “Basketball” with 164,005 students (14.3%), “Rubber baseball” with 149,485 students (13.0%), “Table Tennis” with 146,937 students (12.8%), “Soft Tennis” with 138,335 students (12.1%) and “Track and Field” with 123,916 students (10.8%) (Table 5-1). In terms of trends over the past five years, the registration rate for “Football” was 17.3% in 2016, but decreased by 2.7 percentage points to 14.6% in 2021. On the other hand, the registration rate for “Table Tennis”, “Badminton” and “Track and Field” increased by 1.5 percentage points, 1.3 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points, respectively.

For girls, “Soft Tennis” had the largest number registered with 160,644 students (a registration rate of 19.2%), followed by “Volleyball” with 151,277 students (18.1%), “Basketball” with 126,121 students (15.1%), “Table Tennis” with 88,720 students (10.6%) and “Track and Field” with 88,563 students (10.6%). Compared to the registration rate in 2016, the above all sports showed a flat trend.

4. School Sport Clubs in High School

The changes in the numbers of high school students, students registered with the All Japan High School Athletic Federation (JHAF) and the Japan High School Baseball Federation (JHBF), as well as students enrolled in school sport clubs were analyzed. The results showed that the total number of students has decreased by about 10.2% in the last ten years. On the other hand, the enrollment rate in school sport clubs has increased by 1.6 percentage points, from 41.0% in 2011 to 42.6% in 2021.

Table 5-2 shows the number of students registered with JHAF in 2016 and 2021 by types of sport. In 2021, “Football” had the largest number with 149,637 registered students (a registration rate of 20.7%) for boys. This was followed by “Basketball” with 85,368 students (11.8%), “Badminton” with 68,681 students (9.5%), “Track and Field” with 62,804 students (8.7%) and “Table Tennis” with 50,266 students (7.0%). Regarding trends over the past five years, the registration rate for “Badminton” and “Volleyball” increased by 2.4 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points, respectively. For girls, “Volleyball” had the largest number with 57,264 registered students (13.8%), followed by “Badminton” with 56,759 students (13.6%), “Basketball” with 54,849 students (13.2%), “Kyudo (Japanese archery)” with 35,883 students (8.6%) and “Track and Field” with 35,470 students (8.5%). Compared to the registration rate in 2016, there was an increase of 1.4 percentage points in “Kyudo (Japanese archery)” and a decrease of 1.4 percentage points in “Tennis”, but the overall trend remained flat.