More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health€¦ · This USTA Serves Special Report, More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health, is the first nationwide study to analyze

More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health

leTTer from The execUTive DirecTor All of us who are involved in growing the sport of tennis are well aware of the wide range of benefits the sport

can provide. Tennis has helped shape our lives, and our experiences in the sport motivate us to redouble our

efforts to make tennis the sport of opportunity for all.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA), the national governing body for tennis in the United States,

is committed to effectively promoting the sport as a means of healthful recreation and physical fitness; to

establishing and maintaining good sportsmanship in tennis; and to encouraging the development of good

health, outstanding character and responsible citizenship through involvement in the sport. USTA Serves,

Incorporated, the national charitable foundation of the USTA, seeks to expand the reach of our sport and

its myriad benefits to at-risk youth and people with disabilities through programs utilizing the powerful

integration of tennis and education.

This USTA Serves Special Report, More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health, is the first nationwide

study to analyze the educational, behavioral and health benefits for adolescents who participate in tennis.

Using data from Monitoring the Future (MTF), a highly respected, federally funded survey, the researchers

compared the education and health profiles of tennis players with other high school athletes, as well as with

high school students who do not participate in sports. The results confirm USTA Serves’ belief in tennis as

a sport of opportunity and validate our mission to support programs that enhance the lives of children and

families through the integration of tennis, health and education.

While most people may not be surprised to learn that the majority of adolescent tennis players score better

than most other athletes (and all non-athletes) on education and social behavior, what is less known is

that those benefits also cross all socioeconomic levels in varying degrees. This is particularly important

information as we work not only to grow tennis, but also to increase our efforts to make the face of the sport

more closely resemble the face of our country.

The MTF data and large sample size made it possible to create demographic profiles of U.S. tennis

participants by gender, several racial and ethnic groups, family socioeconomic level and geographic region.

Not all data is presented in this Executive Summary. We encourage you to read the full report, which is

available online at ustaserves.com.

We believe you will find the information in this study to be both interesting and insightful, and feel strongly

that the findings included here will be of use in our shared efforts to grow our sport and enhance lives

through it.

Sincerely,

Deborah Slaner Larkin Former Executive Director, USTA Serves

More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health i

foreworD AnD AcknowleDgemenTSThe More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health Executive Summary presents the major findings from

a first-of-its-kind nationwide study that compares the educational and health profiles of adolescent tennis

participants with participants in other non-contact sports and contact sports, as well as high school students

who do not participate in sports. The results confirm USTA Serves’ belief in tennis as a sport of opportunity

and validate our mission to support programs that enhance the lives of children and families through the

integration of tennis, health and education. A more detailed report is available from ustaserves.com.

About Those involved

USTA Serves, Inc., is the national charitable foundation of the USTA. Its mission is to support, monitor and

promote programs that enhance the lives of at-risk youth and people with disabilities through the integration

of tennis, education and health programs. USTA Serves encourages children to pursue their goals and

highest dreams by succeeding in school, improving their health and nutrition, and becoming responsible

citizens. USTA Serves has funded hundreds of programs in 172 cities and 47 states, providing more than 18

million hours of mentoring, tutoring, nutritional guidance and tennis instruction to more than 300,000 youths.

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis and the recognized leader in promoting and

developing the sport’s growth on every level in the United States, from local communities to the crown jewel

of the professional game, the US Open. The USTA is a progressive and diverse not-for-profit organization

whose volunteers, professional staff and financial resources support a single mission: to promote and

develop the growth of tennis. The USTA is the largest tennis organization in the world, with 17 geographical

sections, more than 770,000 individual members and more than 8,800 Organizational Members, thousands

of volunteers and a professional staff dedicated to growing the game.

The study was conducted by the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) on behalf of USTA Serves. The WSF,

founded in 1974, is the leader in promoting sports, health and education for girls and women. With Billie

Jean King as its founder and ongoing visionary, the Women’s Sports Foundation continues to have a

profound impact on female athletics, from its vigorous advocacy of Title IX legislation to providing grants,

scholarships and grassroots programs for underserved girls and groundbreaking research.

The study was authored by Don Sabo, Ph.D., Center for Research on Physical Activity, Sports, and Health,

D’Youville College; Phil Veliz, Ph.D., University of Michigan; and Lisa Rafalson, Ph.D., D’Youville College.

ii More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health

Acknowledgements

USTA Serves provided relevant evidence-based policy recommendations for future planning and action.

We gratefully acknowledge the leadership and expertise of Deborah Slaner Larkin and Judie Eisenberg,

president and founder of Proposal Pro, who authored the recommendations.

A very special thank you to Marjorie Snyder, Ph.D., and Don Sabo, Ph.D., who have been creating research

surveys and analyzing findings to promote sports and physical activity for girls and women as well as

boys and men for more than 30 years. They recognize the important role research findings play in effecting

systemic change in our society. Their scholarly insights, professionalism, work ethic and sense of humor

make life interesting—and considerably better.

USTA Serves is grateful for the consultative energy and scholarly insights of Michael Messner, Ph.D., as

well as Sr. Denise Roche, Ph.D., president of D’Youville College, for her ongoing support of the Center

for Research on Physical Activity, Sport & Health, and to Deana Monahan for her editorial and graphic

design skills.

Special thanks to USTA Serves board member Thomas Chen for his careful review and edit of the text;

the USTA Serves board of directors for its overall support; and USTA Serves staff members Karen Ford,

Ginalysse Ingles and Jackie Materasso for their ongoing commitment to further the mission of USTA Serves.

A special shout out to the many USTA staff members who gave their time, energy, insight and commitment

to bring these findings to all stakeholders: Dr. Brian Hainline, Chief Medical Officer; Dave Dellinger for his

design expertise; Chris Widmaier, Tom LaDue and Trina Singian for their support publicizing the report;

E.J. Crawford and Mark Preston for expert editing; and the cross-functional team of USTA staff led by Fred

Alleman, which consisted of D.A. Abrams, Kirk Anderson, Jason Brown, Karin Buchholz, Ingrid Chen, Valerie

Chin, April Croft, China Fanning, Karen Feldman, Barry Ford, Bill Leong, Bill Mountford, Don Roberts, David

Schobel, David Slade, Renee Tirado and Michelle Wisch, whose enthusiasm and insights helped make this a

stronger report.

This report may be downloaded from ustafoundation.com. This report may be reproduced and distributed

only in its entirety. Any material taken from this report and published or transmitted in any form, electronic or

mechanical, must be properly attributed to More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health, published by

the USTA.

Preferred citation: Sabo, D., Veliz, P. and Rafalson, L. (2013). More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and

Health. White Plains, NY: USTA Serves.

Published February 2013, by USTA Serves, 70 West Red Oak Lane, White Plains, NY 10604

© 2013, USTA Serves, All Rights Reserved.

More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health 1

execUTive SUmmAry

A body of research links sports participation to

physical, educational and social benefits for U.S.

adolescents. USTA Serves Special Report: More

Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health is the

first nationwide study to specifically compare the

educational and health profiles of adolescent tennis

participants with participants in other non-contact

sports (cross country, lacrosse, swimming, tennis

and track) and contact sports (basketball, baseball,

football, soccer, volleyball and wrestling), as well

as high school students who do not participate

in sports.

More Than a Sport shows that, when compared

to non-athletes and participants in many other

sports, young people who participate in tennis get

better grades, devote more hours to studying, think

about the future, aspire to attend and graduate

from university, and report lower suspension and

expulsion rates.

Despite a common perception that tennis and its

benefits accrue for only well-to-do Americans,

the study found that many educational and

social benefits were evident in tennis-playing

adolescents across upper, middle and lower family

socioeconomic levels. The “educational reach” of

tennis participation was not limited to adolescents

whose parents were college-educated (50%)

(typically from wealthier families), but is also present

in varying degrees among students whose parents

had some college, a high school degree or some

high school education (50%).

More Than a Sport is based on an analysis of the

Monitoring the Future data—a highly respected,

federally funded survey, which contains the

responses of a nationwide sample of U.S. high

school students—to compare the educational,

“The research findings validate USTA Serves’ mission to support programs that enhance the lives of children and families through the integration of tennis, health and education.”

social and health characteristics of tennis players

with participants in other sports as well as non-

athletes. The sample of 54,048 eighth and 10th

graders is representative of a large cross-section

of U.S. high school students by geography and

race/ethnicity between 2006 and 2010. A total of

4,278 tennis participants (8%) were included in the

national sample.

The research findings validate USTA Serves’

mission to support programs that enhance the lives

of children and families through the integration of

tennis, health and education. Many results reported

here support USTA Serves’ operating assumption

that tennis and education programs improve health,

build character, teach life skills and motivate at-risk

students to strive for academic excellence.

2 More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health

1. Tennis is a unique catalyst for

educational advantage.

Compared to non-athletes and participants in the

top nine high school sports, tennis players devote

more time each week to doing homework and are

more likely to report an average grade of “A” in

courses, and say they will “definitely” attend and

graduate from a four-year university. See Tables

1-ES through 4-ES on pages 4-5.

2. Tennis players reported significantly lower

rates of suspension from school and other

disciplinary measures than participants in

other sports as well as non-athletes.

Tennis players were less likely to be suspended

from school or to be sent to a school office due

to misbehavior than athletes in other sports or

students who did not participate in a sport. See

Table 5-ES and 6-ES on pages 5-6.

3. educational advantages among tennis

players occurred across and within all family

socioeconomic levels.

Half of U.S. adolescent tennis participants come

from families in which parents have less than high

school education, a high school degree only or

some college—indicators of middle- and lower-

socioeconomic levels. The perception that tennis is

a “country club” sport benefitting only one segment

of the population is at most only 50% correct. The

educational and social advantages associated

with tennis participation were strongest among

adolescents from higher-socioeconomic-level

families, but still present in families with middle- and

lower-socioeconomic levels and often higher when

compared to adolescents who participate in other

high school sports or do not participate in sports at

all. See Tables 7-ES through 10-ES on pages 6-8.

4. Adolescent tennis players are well-rounded.

Tennis players were engaged in extracurricular

activities and volunteered in their communities at

greater rates than other high school athletes and

students who did not participate in sports. See

Tables 11-ES through 16-ES on pages 8-11.

5. Tennis contributes to adolescent health.

Tennis participation was associated with low rates

of cigarette smoking, binge drinking and marijuana

use (see Tables 17-ES through 19-ES on pages

11-12). Tennis participants also were less likely to

be overweight or at risk for being overweight than

non-athletes and participants in many other sports,

especially contact sports (see Table 20-ES on page

13). Tennis appears to be helping to reduce the

risk for obesity among U.S. youth. Obesity among

adolescents is associated with greater lifelong risk

for cardiovascular disease, bone and joint problems,

and diabetes.

6. Adolescent participation in tennis varies by

race/ethnicity and gender, as well as across

geographic regions.

While Whites constituted 77% of all U.S. adolescent

tennis participants, Blacks were 9%, and Hispanics

were 14% of the total. Among all U.S. eighth- and

10th-grade adolescents who participated in tennis,

47% were male and 53% were female. One-third of

all adolescent tennis participants in the U.S. live in

the South, followed by 26% in the West, 20% in the

North Central states, and 20% in the Northeast. See

Tables 21-ES through 23-ES on pages 13-14.

key finDingS


Finally, the results of this study suggest several

policy implications.

1. Given the educational, social and health benefits

derived from tennis and the comparatively

lower rates of tennis participation among all

adolescents across the nation and geographic

regions, the opportunities for participation

should be increased. (See Tables 24-ES and 25-

ES on pages 14-15)

2. Nationally, fewer than one-quarter of adolescent

tennis participants are Black or Hispanic.

Targeted recruitment and retention programs

that increase participation among racial and

ethnic minorities should be encouraged. See

Table 25-ES on page 15.

3. Nationwide, there is evidence that fewer youth

from economically disadvantaged families

attend or persist through all four years of

college. Yet, across family socioeconomic

levels, higher percentages of tennis players

aspire to attend and graduate from university.

See Tables 9-ES and 10-ES on pages 7-8.

Funders should be encouraged to continue

to support more tennis scholarships

that reach students from economically

disadvantaged families.

conclUSion

How does a child end up with a tennis racquet

in hand? What kinds of shifts in self-image and

expectations are set in motion? Who else in the

family, school or community recognizes and pulls

a novice into the orbit of play? How do the social

networks around the game unfold in ways that

engage, inform and inspire young persons? To what

does the game lead? What cultural values and life

lessons are learned on the court and across the net,

and how do they mesh with the development of a

young person’s identity, friendship networks and

educational aspirations?

Many of the results discussed in this report provide

evidence that tennis participation positively

influences the lives of U.S. adolescents. While

tennis remains a predominantly White sport, gender

representation is equitable, and there is some

evidence that youth participation is expanding in

middle- and lower-socioeconomic levels. The data

paint a portrait of tennis players as well-rounded,

basically successful at school and involved with

extracurricular activities. Tennis players also

appear to be healthier overall and less prone to key

adolescent health-risk behaviors than non-athletes

and contact sports participants.

Some—but not all—types of sports do an effective

job at recruiting and retaining young participants, as

well as helping them to develop friendships, excel

on the academic front and adopt healthy behaviors.

The evidence uncovered here shows that tennis

is achieving these objectives and, in the process,

serves as a powerful catalyst for education and

health among U.S. adolescents.

policy implicATionS


0

10

20

30

40

50

Table 1-ES: Percentage of U.S. Adolescents Indicating an Average Grade in School, by Type of Sport

29%

25%

40%

34%

3%

20%

13%

38%

48%

Tennis ParticipantsNon-contact-sports Participants

Contact-sports Participants

A B C D

6%

43%

2%

Non-sportsParticipants

16%

40%42%

2%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Table 2-ES: Number of Hours Spent Doing Homework Throughout the Week, by Type of Athletic Involvement

68%

15%17% 20%

59%

48%

24%28%



10 or more hours 5 to 9 hours 0 to 4 hours

21%


54%

23% 23%


0

20

40

60

80

100

TennisParticipants

Table 3-ES: Percentage of U.S. Adolescents Who Said They De�nitely Will Go To College,

by Type of Sport

57%

71%

Non-contact-sports

Participants

Contact-sports

Participants

81%


78%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

TennisParticipants

Table 4-ES: Percentage of U.S. Adolescents Who Said They Will De�nitely Graduate from a Four-Year University after High School,

by Type of Sport

51%

65%

Non-contact-sports

Participants

Contact-sports

Participants

75%


69%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

TennisParticipants

Table 5-ES: Percentage of U.S. Adolescents Suspended at Least Once During the

Past School Year, by Type of Sport

27% 27%

Non-contact-sports

Participants

Contact-sports

Participants

17%


23%


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Table 6-ES: Percentage of Students Who Were Sent To The Of�ce Because of Misbehavior, by Type of Sport

7%

65%

28%

62%

7%4%

24%

73%



Never Sometimes Often

32%


5%

68%

27%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Table 7-ES: Percentage of Students Who Indicated an Average Grade of “A” in School, by Type of Sport and Family Socioeconomic Level

53%

37%

48%

16%

29%

23%

35%30%

24%

High SELMiddle SELLow SEL

High SEL = 22%Middle SEL = 16%Low SEL = 13%

59%

19%

40%

Difference Between Tennis Participants and Non-sports Participants

Non-sports Participants Contact-sports Participants Non-contact-sports Participants Tennis Participants


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Table 8-ES: Percentage of Students Reporting 10 or More Hours Spent Doing Homework Throughout the Week, by Type of Sport and Family Socioeconomic Level

31%

23%

27%

11%

20%

15%

20%17%

14%



34%

13%

24%



0

20

40

60

80

100

Table 9-ES: Percentage of Students Who Said They Will De�nitely Go to College, by Type of Sport and Family Socioeconomic Level

88%

74%

85%

43%

63%61%

74%69%

58%




90%

53%

75%



0

20

40

60

80

100

Table 10-ES: Percentage of Students Who Said They Will De�nitely Graduate from College, by Type of Sport and Family Socioeconomic Level

83%

68%

79%

38%

57%56%67%

61%

52%



85%

47%

69%



0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Table 11-ES: Extent of Participation in School-Based Music or Other Performing Arts During the Previous Year, by Type of Sport

13%

64%

24%

16%16%

47%



Never Slight to Moderate Considerable to Great Extent

23%

60%

35%


18%

50%

32%


0

20

40

60

80

100

Table 12-ES: Extent of Participation in the School Newspaper or Yearbook During the Previous Year, by Type of Sport

7%

90%

6%11%

16%

76%



Never Slight to Moderate Considerable to Great Extent

4%

83%

9%


14%

79%

8%

0

20

40

60

80

100

Table 13-ES: Extent of Participation in Community Affairs or Volunteer Work, by Type of Sport

50%

71%

19%



Never At least a few times per year

50%

29%

82%


23%

77%


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Table 14-ES: Percentage of Adolescents Who Said They Participate a Considerable to Great Extent in School-Based Music or Other Performing Arts During the Past Year,

by Type of Sport and Family Socioeconomic Level

37%34%

30%

15%

27%25%

30%

23%24%




39%

17%

33%

Difference Between Tennis Participants and Contact-sports Participants

0

2

4

6

8

10

Table 15-ES: Percentage of Adolescents Who Said They Participate a Considerable to Great Extent in the School Yearbook or Newspaper During the Previous Year,

by Type of Sport and Family Socioeconomic Level

9%

5%

7%

4%

9%

7% 7%

6%

4%




9%

5%

8%



0

20

40

60

80

100

Table 16-ES: Participation in Community Affairs or Volunteer Work, by Type of Sport and Family Socioeconomic Level

84%

63%

81%

39%

65%64%

76%

70%

52%




88%

58%

80%


0

5

10

15

20

Table 17-ES: Percentage of Adolescents Who Indicated Binge Drinking During the Past Two Weeks, by Gender and Type of Sport

14% 14% 13%



Males Females

14%

17%

13%


15%

13%


0

3

6

9

12

15

Table 18-ES: Percentage of Adolescents Who Smoked Marijuana During the Past Month, by Gender and Type of Sport

15%

9%

11%



Males Females

13%14%

8%

Non-sports Participants

12%

8%

18

0

5

10

15

20

Table 19-ES: Percentage of Adolescents Who Smoked Cigarettes During the Past Month, by Gender and Type of Sport

16%

10%9%



Males Females

16%

11%

8%


10%9%


Tennis

Table 21-ES: Percentage of Participants from Different Racial Groups Within Type of Sport

Non-contactSports

Contact Sports

0

20

40

60

80

100

77%

9%

67%

15%13%

73%

White Black Hispanic

14%18% 15%

Tennis

Table 22-ES: Percentage of Male and Female Participants Within Type of Sport

Non-contactSports

Contact Sports

Male Female

0

20

40

60

80

100

47%

53%

60%

40%

52%

48%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Table 20-ES: Percentage of Adolescents Who Are Overweight and at Risk of Being Overweight, by Gender and Type of Sport

40%

30%32%



Males Females

33%

40%

25%


38%

26%

45


Tennis

Table 23-ES: Percentage of Participants From Different Geographic Regional

Within Type of Sport

Non-contact Sports

Contact Sports

0

20

40

60

80

100

20%

34%

19%

35% 33%

18%

26%23% 24%

20%23% 25%

Northeast North Central South West

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80Table 24-ES: Percentage of U.S. Adolescent Participation

Among Different Racial Groups, by Type of Sport

9%5% 6%

59% 61% 60%

49%

41% 37%

Tennis ParticipantsNon-contact-sports ParticipantsContact-sports Participants



Table 25-ES: Percentage of Adolescent Tennis Players, by Geographic Region and Race/Ethnicity

0

20

40

60

80

100

9%

83%

8% 7%14%

71%

5%

73%

16%

Northeast WestSouth

87%

6%

23%


North Central

USTA Foundation70 West Red Oak LaneWhite Plains, NY 10604

www.USTAFoundation.com

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More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health€¦ · This USTA Serves Special Report, More Than a Sport: Tennis, Education and Health, is the first nationwide study to analyze