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A University of Sydney study has revealed that improved academic performance among adolescents involved in sport through their high school years.

Researchers at the University of Sydney analysed the sports participation and academic performance of more than 4200 students from the age of four through to the age of 21 using data from the federal government’s Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

Controlling for various factors - including disability, socio-economic status and attending a private school - the researchers found participation in sport was associated with higher NAPLAN scores, school attendance, and a higher likelihood of university admission.

As reported today by the Sydney Morning Herald, individual sports - such as dance, tennis or swimming - were more closely associated with higher literacy NAPLAN scores while participation in any type of sport was associated with higher numeracy scores. Only playing a team sport was linked to lower odds of being absent from school without permission.

Lead researcher Dr Katherine Owen said following children’s participation in sport and academic outcomes over the course of their school life meant it was more reasonable to think the previously established link between playing sport and doing well in the classroom was not coincidental.

Dr Owen advised “we have shown kids who continue playing sports through their childhood and into adolescence perform better academically”, noting the study allowed researchers to compare a child’s performance over time, showing an increase in academic outcomes while a child continued playing sport.

Explaining that there could be several reasons why different types of sports were associated with different types of academic achievement and school success, Dr Owen explained “team sports foster more social connections, and we saw those children were less likely to be absent from school.

“While individual sports require more dedication, you’re training by yourself. It’s also possible that certain types of kids go for different types of sports.”

While previous studies have shown that children who participate in sport are more likely to perform well academically, this study is believed to be the first to show this occurring over the course of a child’s development.

In 2022, a literature review led by Dr Owen and published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Science, showed a positive link between participation in sport and academic performance, with the strongest association when sport is held during school hours.

The research team found that overall sports participation had a small positive effect on academic performance, but the relationship was strengthened when the sport was conducted during school hours and at a moderate dose of around one to two hours a week.

Keeping Youth Engaged in Sport
A 2017 Australian Sports Commission report identified several barriers to secondary students playing sport, including parents being unable to provide the time and money required, increasing time demand for extracurricular activities (such as a part-time job, or additional social activities), and adolescents feeling less able to join a community team when others their age had more experience.

Commenting on this issue, Dr Owen stated “there are so many barriers and reasons for kids dropping out.

“But a lot of the research we have done has shown kids drop out because it gets too competitive. The sports themselves need to work at providing more social games for kids of that age.”

Victoria University sport participation researcher Dr Aurelie Pankowiak, who was not involved in the study, said the data supported existing research.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Dr Pankowiak as stating “what we still don’t quite know is the direction of the relationship between these positive outcomes and participation in sport.

“We are not sure if it’s because kids are doing better at school and having these positive outcomes that they might be more likely to participate in sport.”

Dr Pankowiak agreed that sporting bodies needed to dedicate resources to helping clubs retain children through high school.

As well as providing more opportunities for social sport - particularly leagues which did not have a training commitment on top of a weekend game - she said the intense and sometimes abusive culture that can emerge as sports leagues become more competitive also needed to be evaluated.

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