Over 20 anonymous answers were received at Green Hope High School to see what students’ favorite sport is. There was a small variety of sports, but one sport really stood out compared to others. They were also asked if they liked to play that sport more, watch it or both, with answers being surprising.
The Expected Answers
Before the answers were received, they were expected to be different from what they are. The thought was that the most common answer would be football, then soccer and basketball following. The top three were correct, but not in order. The other question asked on the form was whether students preferred to watch or play that sport more. , The answers were expected to be around the same all around, 35 percent on both, 40 percent on play and 25 percent on watch. These expectations were very mistaken, with the answers being considerably different from what was originally thought.
Soccer
The number one most common answer by a landslide was soccer. Around 62 percent of the people asked voted for soccer. According to FIFA, 4% of the global population plays soccer, so it being the most common answer isn’t too shocking. But since Football and Basketball are bigger in the United States, these sports were expected to be higher.
Basketball and Football
Roughly, only around 10% each chose Basketball and Football. Once again, it was surprising that very few chose these sports due to their popularity in the United States. On just football alone, 43 to 72 percent of American adults watch it, and about 170 million people in the United States watch basketball. So one would expect these two, being the top three most-watched sports in the United States, to be much higher.
Other Sports
As expected, there were other sports selected that were very scarce compared to soccer, football and basketball. These sports include Boxing, Cross Country, Swimming, Hockey, and Volleyball. Each of these only had 1-2 people who picked these sports.
Do You Like to Watch or Play it More?
57.1 percent like to play it more, and 42.9 percent like both, with 0 percent only watching. It was expected that only very few people would choose only to watch, but not 0. At a young age, people typically enjoy playing over watching for multiple reasons. Many people aspire to become professionals in their sport; therefore, play it more to get better. Most people don’t become professionals and just end up watching their favorite team week in and week out. Young people are also at the peak of their activity, so they go out more. Older people eventually get too old to participate in activities, so all they can do is sit back on their couch and watch.
Conclusion
From this form, many things were learned. At Green Hope High School, from the people who voted, Soccer is a favored sport, and people enjoy playing their sport much more than watching. Basketball and football are also decently popular, but compared to soccer, not so much. There were also other sports, such as Boxing, Hockey etc., that had very few picks.
