Abstract

With participation in out-of-school sports in the U.S. limited by the pay-to-play club sports model, the availability of school sports is crucial yet not extensively researched. This study aimed to answer two research questions: Do high school sports offerings vary by urbanicity, enrollment, income, and car access? How do these trends compare across different sports? One logistic regression model was run for each Ohio High School Athletic Association sport. The results indicated that enrollment and urbanicity were most significant in predicting school sports offerings, with income adding a secondary push. In general, the urbanicity results indicated that city schools had lower odds to offer most sports than suburban, town, and rural schools. These findings indicate that school sports may be more widely available in high-enrollment, high-income, and non-city schools. Solutions such as co-op interscholastic teams, local facility partnerships, and intentional resource allocation may be explored to potentially mitigate disparities in school sports offerings.

Advisor

Goharipour, Hamed

Department

Urban Studies

Disciplines

Sports Studies | Urban Studies and Planning

Keywords

School sports, urbanicity, enrollment, income, spatial mismatch, Ohio high schools

Publication Date

2026

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2026 Colin A. Leslie