Youth (athletics)

Youth sport (British English) or youth athletics (American English) is any sports event where competitors are younger than adult age, whether children or adolescents. Youth sport includes school sport at primary and secondary level, as well as sport played outside the education system, whether informally or organised.

In sports studies and public policy contexts, an age limit of 18 (the age of majority) is usual in discussing "youth sport". Not all sports governing bodies define "youth" as "under-18": while the Youth Olympic Games and the FA Youth Cup are for under-18s, the LEN Junior Water Polo European Championship is for under-17s. Many youth sport programmes have multiple age levels, for example under-8, under-10, under-12, etc. Not all underage sport counts as youth sport; for example, the existence of the World Rowing U23 Championships recognises that adults aged 18–22 have not yet reached peak condition.

Sport is one of the most popular activities among youth all over the world. The most popular sports are association football and swimming. In 2008, a United Nations-sponsored report on "Sport for Development and Peace" stated:

Participation in organized sports during childhood and adolescence has important benefits for physical, psychological, and social health. Sport based youth development programs outside of school promote a wide range of learning and life skill development. Involvement in youth athletics encourages youth to live a healthy and happy lifestyle, foregoing the common issues many youth face such as obesity and depression. However, sport involvement goes beyond health, other benefits allow them to form and strengthen affective relationships, teach youth to value self-improvement over winning, how to be competitive in a competitive society, and to work culturally with different peers and authorities. In the classroom, high school student-athletes are far less likely to drop out of school and 15% more likely to attend college.

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