Organized youth sports and commuting behavior: The environmental impact of decentralized community sport facilities

- Previous research has not quantified the extent of travel required for participation in organized sport.
- Participants spent an average of 106 min/week in car transport accounting for 28% of the participant's average driving time per week.
- The environmental impact of this youth sport program annually is about 400 tonnes of CO2eq.
- Assigning children to practice at the closest facility to their homes could reduce emissions from this travel by 12% whereas upgrading vehicle gas mileage efficiency could reduce emissions by 40%.