Dale Budge.

New Zealanders are turning away from our traditional team sports and focusing more on individual areas to get their sporting fix, writes

Thes port of basketball is seriously growing at kids level in particular — while at secondary school level only giants rugby, football and netball are played more. Basketball projects to out-rank the others within the next 10 years as well. It is also popular in the growing Asian community and is easily more popular amongmales under the age of 39. Sport NZ data shows that basketball has become particularly popular as a casual recreation sport with only two of every 10 basketball players belonging to clubs. The success Steven Adams has had in the NBA has certainly helped grow the sport and there has been big move to follow the elite levels of th e sport from as pectator point of view.

E-SPORTS

The rise of E-Sports makes you think about what the future of sport might be? Could there beati me when the stars of world sport aren’t actually running, kicking or throwing but controlling the players that do? Some of the leading Formula 1 teams have signed up the best drivers E-Sports has to offer to help with their development. Simulators have becom ea massive part of motorsport in general. E Sports has becom ea popular alternative to getting outdoors and actively playing sport — Sport NZ research shows weekly participation in sport and active recreation by adults has decreased by nearly 8 per cent over the past 16 years. Recent figures show E-Sports attract a global viewing audience of 385 million while revenue growth year on year is

up 41.3 per cent.

FUTSAL

The five-a-side indoor variation of football has seen huge growth in New Zealand over the past decade. It began being played in secondary schools in 2010 with 1300 kids involved in the first year. By 2016 nearly 7000 kids were playing it at secondary schools level while it has become a favourite social sport among adults as well. It is estimated by Sport NZ more than 200,000 New Zealanders play football while 49,000 are playing futsal. Obviously there would be some cross-over between the two variations of the game but it is clear futsal is trending up as a popular choice for kids and adults.

LACROSSE

Popular in North America the game really began properly in New Zealand at the turn of the last millennium with a senior men’s league established and a women’s league in the following year. The stick and ball game has become much more popular in recent years as it has broken into secondary schools. First played there in 2007 the numbers have seen 400 per cent growth in that time frame. It is still a relatively small sport compared to other sports on this list but the growth is the key to its inclusion on our list.

RUGBY SEVENS

The admission of rugby sevens into the Olympics has been the catalyst for huge growth in the abbreviated version of rugby all over the world. It has been one of the big growth areas in women’s sport due largely to the Olympic push and the success of the Black Ferns. A little over 2800 kids represented their school playing rugby sevens in 2012 and that total had nearly doubled by 2016. Rugby Sevens, much like its XV-a-side relative is particularly prominent in the Maori and Pacific Island communities with much of the growth going hand in hand with population growth in those areas. It also is gaining more interest at an elite level with more funding being throw at it.

UFC/MMA

The combat sport still polarises people but you cannot deny its ever-growing popularity. Its appeal is certainly at an elite professional level rather than a participation sport. UFC has become a huge focus for the younger sports fan — the pay-perview numbers and website news traffic certainly can attest to that. The Brock Lesner v Mark Hunt fight was the most popular live blogged UFC fight on nzherald. co.nz this year, which attracted a bigger audience than all but one Warriors game and was the third biggest drawcard in terms of live sport numbers behind All Blacks games and the America’s Cup.

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball has become very popular in New Zealand secondary schools. Almost 17,000 kids represented their