![]() Limited efforts have been made to characterize and quantify fun in youth sport and there is no consensus of its meaning in the literature. 12 At present, fun remains a relatively elusive concept. 12– 13 Conversely, negative movement experiences can lead children to become “progressively disaffected from physical activities” 1(p297) and the most frequently cited reason among youth for dropping out of sport is that it is no longer fun. 11, 1 Positive movement experiences have been deemed the key variable for sustaining children’s participation in physical activities 1 and previous studies confirming this notion have identified “fun” as the primary reason for participation in sports teams. To a large extent, the lack of positive experiences associated with sport can explain the exodus from organized athletics at such a critical juncture in childhood. In fact, one-third of participants drop out annually and as many as 70% drop out by adolescence. However, attrition from organized youth sport is alarmingly high. 3, 9– 10 In addition, compared with school-sponsored physical education, youth sport programs provide a broader community support for addressing the physical inactivity and childhood obesity epidemics by engaging children and adolescents in addition to parents, coaches, and families. ![]() 8 Numerous studies have also shown the social, emotional, and cognitive benefits of sport participation. Sport participation for as little as 2–3 hours per week can result in significant cardiovascular, metabolic, and musculoskeletal adaptations independent of age and gender, 4– 7 and is associated with a 7% lower risk of obesity in adulthood for girls. 3 Indeed, the physiological health benefits of sport participation are well documented. 1 The National Council of Youth Sports estimates that more than 60 million boys and girls participate in organized sport throughout the United States 2 and approximately 65% of youth under the age of 17 will participate in at least one organized sport during their childhood and adolescence. Sports are increasingly acknowledged as an important setting for accumulating needed physical activity. ![]()
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