Children participating in tennis in England 2017-2023

In the 2022/23 academic year, around 8.4 percent of children aged between 5 and 16 had played tennis in the week prior to being surveyed. While this was a decrease from the previous year, it was still an increase over 2019/20 and 2020/21, when the figure dropped to as low as 6.3 percent. 

What is the most popular sport played by children?

Although tennis ranks among the top ten most played sports among children in the UK, football sits top of the rankings. It was found that in 2022/23, over 40 percent of children in the UK played football, while running, cross-country, jogging, and the Daily Mile came in second place with a share of nearly 30 percent.

How many children in the United States play tennis?

As the host nation of the Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, the United States has a long and illustrious history with tennis, producing legends of the game such as Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, and the Williams sisters. Accordingly, around one-third of the U.S. population claim to be tennis fans. At the school level, however, there was a smaller share of children aged six to 12 playing tennis in the U.S. in 2023 than in England, totaling 6.5 percent.