We’re not bowling alone

Lonely, screen-obsessed Americans are not going gently into their digital dungeons. People of all ages are playing sports – actual grunt and sweat physical activities in clubs, on teams, and in casual social groups – at a higher rate than in decades.

The share of Americans over the age of six who participated in a team sport or physical activity from trail running to joining a fitness group reached 80 percent last year for the first time since the Sports Business Industry Association began its surveys in 2008.

A major motivation, according to other surveys by Civic Science is for “social interaction and making friends.”

The growth sports are widely varied, but the biggest explosion has been pickleball, which has more than tripled in players in three years. But don’t convert those tennis courts just yet. Tennis is growing too.

In the year 2000, Robert Putnam wrote an era-defining book, “Bowling Alone,” which described modern America’s decline in social connections and community with the metaphor of the decline in bowling leagues.

Maybe not.

Sources: Sports Business Industry Association, Civic Science, American Time Use Survey