New research from David Lloyd Clubs reveals that the average British parent starts to think about the sports they could enroll their children into before they even turn five years of age. And, what’s more surprising, 5% of parents confessed that they started making sporting plans for their little ones as soon as they hit six months.  This keenness to push children into sport isn’t just for fun - 43% of parents believe that partaking in sports at a young age could impact on how successful their children are in the future.

Parents also believe that sport has a positive impact on their confidence (62%), makes for more outgoing and sociable children (58%), enables children to feel determined and fuels healthy competitiveness (50%).

The research highlights that almost half (46%) of children play football, followed by swimming (41%) and tennis (30%). The million-dollar question however, is there a correlation between the sports our kids do as children and the career path they end up choosing?

The research affirms that sport gives kids motivation and a drive to find a career with the typical career choices of sporty children being:

1.     Football - Accountancy, Banking and Finance

2.     Swimming -  Retail 

3.     Tennis – Healthcare 

4.     Athletics – Technology & IT

5.     Netball – Teaching 

6.     Hockey – Creative Arts and Design 

7.     Dance – Public Services

8.     Gymnastics - Engineering and Manufacturing

9.     Rugby – Business, Consulting and Management 

10.  Judo / Karate – Media and Journalism 

Sinead Johnson, Group Family Manager at David Lloyd Clubs said: “Playing sport as a child is the first time you learn some really important life skills such as team work, determination and communication skills which goes a long way to help you in your future career. This research highlights that exercise can really impact the career paths the younger generations choose - therefore it’s important to encourage children to take up a sport as a child no matter what that may be – anything from football to swimming and tennis can have a positive impact on their future. 

“At David Lloyd Clubs we have a wide variety of sports for children to get involved in after school and during the summer holidays, making David Lloyd Club the perfect playground to explore, learn and hopefully carve a career path.”