Participation in sport has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels among some of the cohorts in the latest Irish Sports Monitor Report from Sport Ireland but not yet amongst women or older age groups.
The Q3 report covers the months July-September this year and shows that 43% of Irish people over the age of 16 years old took part in sport, which is up from 41% in the second quarter of 2021 and 35% in the first quarter.
This now means that participation in sport is approaching the 46% recorded in 2019.
Swimming has bounced back to its pre-Covid level of nine percent of the population taking part since the reopening of pools while personal exercise remains the most popular form of being physically active, bouncing back from 11 percent in Q2 to 13 percent.
There has been a drop in the percentage of people walking for recreation from 76% in Q2 2021 to 72% in Q3, though recreational walking remains ahead of the 66% level seen in 2019.
49 percent of Men but only 38 percent of Women have come back to sport, reopening a worrying gap between the genders that had all but disappeared during Covid.
“While the results of this report are encouraging, and seeing the increased numbers of people volunteering is a particular positive, there are certain areas that warrant further attention in the coming months,” said Sport Ireland CEO John Treacy.
“This research shows that gradients are growing in terms of participation in a number of areas – it is vital that we reduce these gradients and ensure that sport and physical activity are for all.”
There are positive trends in the number of people willing to volunteer within sport, as well as a return to club membership, particularly amongst young men.
Soccer, Gaelic Football and Golf have all increased their participation rates.
“I am delighted to see the numbers involved in sport continuing to grow and it is encouraging to see that physical activity levels continue to be significantly higher than they were two years ago,” said Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers.
“This is positive news, though we won’t become complacent and it remains a major priority for me in the coming weeks and months to get more people of all ages involved in sport and physical activity.”
Although sports participation for older people has increased in Q3, it has not kept pace with the return to sport of younger people who are now almost at pre-pandemic levels, creating a growing age gradient that will also need to be watched with care.
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