The trickle-up effect: exploring the relationship between youth sports participation and elite sporting success.

Purpose/rationale

In response to the limited empirical research on the ‘trickle-up effect’ this study aims to answer a fundamental question in elite sports policy literature: ‘Does widespread youth sport participation contribute to elite sporting success?’

Design/methodology/approach

Using 23 years of data across 29 sports in Flanders, the study evaluates the relationship between youth sport membership levels and elite sporting success through descriptive and correlation analysis.

Findings

The results indicate a modest positive relationship (r = 0.15) between both variables. However, substantial differences among sports were found, which led to a four-quadrant classification: sports with (I) low participation and high success, (II) high participation and high success, (III) low participation and low success, or (IV) high participation and low success. Interestingly, in Flanders, no sports were classified in quadrant IV.

Practical implications

The classification system indicates that extensive youth participation may contribute to international success in all but category I sports. These findings indicate that elite sports policies should pay attention to youth participation.

Research contribution

This study is the first to investigate the influence of youth participation on elite sporting success across different sports, thereby challenging the assumption of a generic trickle-up effect.

Originality/value

The extensive Flemish data provide modest and conditional yet original empirical evidence supporting the trickle-up effect.