By the end of Primary School, 90 per cent of children are still involved in sport.
But according to a Irish Sports Council survey, it is the years after that which are proving problematic particularly in the GAA.
Secondary school and exam years are the time periods which see the biggest drop-off in involvement in organised sporting activities despite evidence showing that teenagers who play sport achieve better Leaving Cert results.
All sports suffer a drop-off in participation but the GAA accounts for almost a quarter of all adult drop-outs.
While almost 90 per cent of children are active at primary school level but by the time they are adults that is dropping to as low as 33 per cent, with team sports bearing the brunt of the drop-off.
Earlier today Joe caught up with Dr Pete Lunn, who is a Senior Research Officer at the ESRI which is responsible for this report and discussed the findings.
"During the second level years, many children drop out of school. When kids leave school, many drop out then and when they leave college, many drop out then. When they go to work places, many drop out. So by the time you've reached mature adulthood, less than half of those kids who are physically active around age 11 will still be physically active as adults. That really, really matters," said Dr Lunn.
"What we know is that the level of physical activity as an adult is going to be a strong predictor of whether you develop degenerative diseases as you get older."
Dr Lunn points out that relocation is the biggest problem for those who play Gaelic Games because of a reluctance to line out for a team other than their local club, which is less of a problem in soccer and rugby.
"One of the reasons why people find it harder as they become adults is the time management factor. You pick up family responsibilities and work commitments and it becomes much harder to participate in a team sport where it demands getting 30 guys in the same place at the same time. Why soccer maintains a higher participation rate among adults is because it organizes itself in a more informal basis. 5-a-side is very popular and we can see that in the adult data.
"For people who are fans of Gaelic Games, finding ways to keep playing them in a more flexible way would be a very helpful thing."
Dr Lunn also touched about the socio-economic factors which play a part in the figures and also feels Ireland is behind the world leaders such as the Scandinavian countries which have high participation rates.
Main image: Dr. Pete Lunn, ESRI ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
