The bar chart compares the percentages of boys and girls who participated in nine different sports in New Zealand in 2002.
Overall, participation patterns differed markedly between the two genders. Netball was by far the most popular sport among girls, whereas soccer attracted the highest proportion of boys. Boys were considerably more likely than girls to play cricket, soccer, martial arts and the miscellaneous category labelled “Other”, while girls recorded higher participation in swimming, netball and athletics. Basketball and tennis showed relatively similar figures for both sexes.
Among boys, soccer was the leading sport, accounting for approximately 24% of participants. The figure for the “Other” category stood at around 18%, followed by swimming at about 13%. Cricket and martial arts were also relatively popular, with roughly 10% and 9% respectively, while tennis and basketball reached approximately 8% and 7%. Athletics represented only around 3%, and netball was virtually insignificant at well below 1%.
For girls, netball dominated participation, with the proportion peaking at approximately 25%. Swimming ranked second at about 22%, more than four times the figure for soccer, which stood at roughly 5%. Around 10% of girls selected sports included in the “Other” category, while tennis and basketball accounted for approximately 7% and 6% respectively. Athletics reached about 4%, martial arts only 2%, and cricket remained the least popular activity at under 1%.
