100+ Youth Sports Research Paper Topics to Write About

I know many sad stories of college students who write about non-interesting sports research topics such as the usefulness of teamwork or the history of football. Here in Homework Lab, I’ve got 21 students from the U.S. who came to us with D and even F marks for sports research paper topics, banned as hackneyed by their professors. For my students, I used to create a list of 10-20 topics to select when they started the essay. Today, I publish my collection. These are 100 best research ideas, based on academic articles and research, which will surely work for you. Feel free to check them below! 👇

Update 24 Oct: I’ve wiped out some old topics and introduced fresh ones. The list is ready for 2019 season!

   Sports Research Examples by Homework Lab Geeks

Why reinvent the wheel if you can take a look at the wheels made by your peers? Before you start browsing currently unused and unique topics, it is worth checking essays that have already passed college and high school grading with success 📝. You can use them as a source of inspiration and fresh ideas for your own writing!

• “Miller Park Baseball Stadium” essay example is devoted to the unusual theme: infrastructure for sports. It considers even such intricate factors as weather, the safety of workers and the behavior of sports fans — it is a good sample for sports management research.
• “Nike’s Marketing Communication Mix” paper example explores how Nike penetrated the market by helping athletes to perform better, and what solutions were required. Apparel matters for success, and sometimes even more than you think.
• “Critical Analysis of Sidney Crosby by Kristi Allain” exemplifies how sports research can be used to analyze identities of athletes — and how venerable heroes affect national culture. Sports psychology and culture students would like to check it!
• “Nutrition and Fitness” Essay reminds of usually forgotten topic — food, supplements and nutrition of athletes are regulated by many organizations! The paper points out that restrictions are needed to save human lives in some situations.
• “Fitness and Wellness Essay” example — a great source of physical assessment information and tips to be used by nursing, rehabilitation and sports safety students.
• “Fraud Examination: 2015 FIFA Corruption” paper refers to the topic of fairness in sports competition research — and how virtues of equality are violated by officials for their profits. Must-read for those who look for interesting sports research topics.
• “The Value of Physical Exercise and P.E. Classes at School” provides empirical evidence on why sports education is being developed in the U.S — and why there are still problems (spoiler: because of parents and Maths).
• “The Construction of National Identity in British Media Coverage of Sport” is an essay example about the impact of media on how competitive sports are being developed, and on the society in general.

Haven’t found the idea you were looking for? Below, you can find additional 98 sports topics — with explanations on where to use them. They are unique and pretty unused by college and high school students, so feel free to proceed 👇!

     💊 Research Topics On Sports Injuries

In healthcare studies, students are required to focus on sports injuries and avoiding them in athletic practice. In my experience, the best option is to write about injury prevention and post-injury care, and never on emergency help. Unless you are a nursing student, you are not expected to be an expert in medical emergency services. On the sports field, every action after an injury may have dramatic consequences for athlete health — and your tutor is not likely to be forgiving to your mistakes.

Following topics are entirely predictable — you will find enough sources to write about, and you are likely to enjoy your research. After an update, I also added some safe emergency topics. During 3 years of my work as a Geek, they did not cause any problems.

• Brain concussion of athletes. Should be athletes with suspicion on concussion removed from the field?
• Treating acute and chronic overstrains in athletes. What is better: massage, injections or ointments?
• Athletic varicose disease. Causes of development, signs, methods of prevention.
• Anti-doping control in sports: What is the most performance-affecting drug in the world?
• Athletic pharmacology. What is the best medication to cure injuries and facilitate post-traumatic recovery?
• Overtraining. What are its symptoms, how it affects competition and how to avoid it?
• Sudden death in sports. What impacts on-field mortality of athletes and what sports organizations do to mitigate the issue?
• Overwork & fatigue in sports. How can trainers help athletes to work more productively and avoid exhaustion?
• Acute pathological athletic conditions. What severe diseases can develop due to sports and training, and how they can be avoided without medication?
• Recovery after the illness. How athletes turn back on track after catching flue, cold or other diseases?
• Do athletes live shorter than ordinary people? What impacts the life expectancy of people of sports?
• Thermal and solar strikes during sports competition. 
• Dislocation in sports. Is it an unavoidable plague of active sports?
• Fear of injury. Do athletes who were traumatized once feel anxiety during the play?
• Masculinity and injuries. Some sports research topics suggest that male athletes incur much more traumas and wounds than their female peers. Is that true?
• Breast traumas. What threats await for female athletes in competitive and active sports?

I received the feedback that these ideas had been useful for nursing and healthcare students too — so, feel free to use!

     📊 Research Paper Topics On Sports Management

Management topics on sports revolve around three things: organizing people, providing athletes with everything they need, and connecting sports organization and stakeholders to enable competition. Don’t think that it’s too easy, though — management tutors like graphs, statistics, and science. They are also not likely to tolerate some extreme ideas like maximization of sports event funding at the cost of fans’ safety and sports dignity. Below, you will find topics where you teacher just cannot force you to sweat😓.

• Management of sports club. What is needed to create a sports hub for professional athletes and the community?
• How to save costs on sports. Which facilities and services for athletes are too expensive, and how can savvy managers save funds?
• Where to find money for sports events? Sources of funding, sponsors, charity, donations, and issues of ticket selling.
• Community awareness of sports. How to attract locals to your sports organization and why do you need it?
• Women in sports. Is there any ceiling that prevents the career development of women in sports industries?
• Efficiency management in a sports organization. How can a non-athlete manager know that everything goes right in a sports club?
• Relationships with philanthropists in sports. What drives sponsors to fund sports, and what can be done to retain and attract them?
• Cost-benefit analysis of the sports industry. Can sports organization be a profitable and sustainable business?
• Global warming and sports (I know that it is unexpected). Does environmental change affect sports and what shifts can we expect in the future?
• Sports accessibility. What are difficulties of providing access to physical activities for seniors, children, and people with disabilities, and how to overcome them?
• Ecology of water sports. What to do with wastewater from pools?
• HR and recruiting in sports. How to find good athletes for your team if you don’t have $1,000,000?

     ⚛ Sports Science Research Topics

If your major is not sports or you are pursuing a degree in sports education, then you are likely to be assigned to a science research paper. The primary point of such topics is to find the connection between sports and some field of study — be it psychology, economics or chemistry. I added some ideas for the 2018-2019 academic year that are easy to research.

• Connections between sports and the economy. Are nations that invest in sports are more successful that sports-hating countries?
• Why do some countries refuse to host the Olympics? Can major international events become a burden for the national economy?
• January Club in sports. Why children who born in January become more successful in sports than kids born in other months? (It’s a true fact, besides, and called a Relative Age Effect).
• Can athletic success be inherited? Genetics and heredity in sports.
• Sports regulation and performance of athletes. 
• What hormones are the most important for athletes? Biochemistry of winning sports competition.
• Athletic nutrition. What do top athletes eat to remain strong, fast and steady?
• What traits of character are needed for an athlete to win? Sports psychology research has a lot of papers on the topic, so you’ll have a good time writing about it.
• Empathy in sports. Is the ability to understand other people necessary for athletic training?
• Sports for an animal. 🐶 Can a dog athlete earn more than a human sports practitioner?

Did you expect such topics, hah? They are really scientific, still not boring. For more science stuff, check sociology topics below, in the 8th section of our post. 👇

     🎓 Sports Schools Topics For College Students

I know that in sports school, the primary objective of any sports writing assignment is to show your professional abilities. What are they? It is your skills on how to make training safe, enjoyable and beneficial. Given that the humanity works on these tasks for several hundreds of years now, good sports school topic is hard to find and easy to miss. Honestly, it is the most popular part of my list.

• What is more important for sports: a mind or a body? Physical and mental development of athletes.
• What sports uses the body the most? Body activity during physical exercises.
• Safest exercises for students with disabilities. 
• How does training help to become stronger? The biological and mental process of training as the improvement of sports skills.
• Collaboration on a sports field. What is the most effective communication strategy among sports team members?
• Being tired is not OK in sports. Signs of fatigue during training and measures to prevent it.
• Physiological characteristics of “second breath”. How to boost the stamina of athlete to play two times longer?
• Self-control in sports. How to transform a body into a programmable success tool?
• Posture and internal organ functioning. Does it matter for health how we move, sleep and eat?
• Overweight and sports. Is it possible to be obese even when you train hard?
• The friendship between a trainer and students. Is it ethical to become more than a teacher for your sports students?

     🏈 Football Research Topics

You may already know that right now, lawsuits on head injuries of college students may make ban this type of sports from the public education. It’s an excellent topic to write if you are focused on injuries and health. Honestly, I believe that football topics present a lot of place for creativity — this sport has evolved beyond a simple play and now presents a complex cultural construct.

• Why is rugby called football? It’s not a big secret that outside the US, “football” means “soccer.” Such words shift has an exciting history.
• How are champions selected? Why date of birth matter for junior football leagues? (Remeber about Relative Age Effect)
• Evolution of football today. Which rules are about to change in years coming?
• Football tactics. What do rugby players have in common with Ancient Rome infantry? ⚔
• Can football gear be used as an armor?
• Head concussions and football. Are football players doomed for neurological disorders as they mature?
• Who earns the most on football? Players, stadiums or beer manufacturers?
• Is a football player accountable for injuring another player? Legal peculiarities of sports and athletic insurance.
• How many pounds rugby players lift? The role of strength and endurance in football competition.
• Is cheerleading an art? Cheerleading as a separate sport that born out of football.
• Psychopaths and football. Can people with a mental disorder be better athletes than their ordinary peers?
• Impact of fame on sports performance. Do famous athletes begin playing worse when they reach recognition?

I strongly recommend to take a loot on athletic training topics too — they are several sections below, and they focus on even more controversial issues. ⬇

     🏒 Hockey Research Paper Topics

According to statistics, ice hockey is ninth in the world by the number of its fans. However, it cannot be said about hokey’s revenues — it sport earns $4.1 billion yearly in the U.S. only! That is why essays on hockey remain to be popular in high school and colleges, given the complexity of the discipline. Below go topics that have not been ridden to death by hundreds of students before you!

• Why is field hockey more popular than grass hockey? (It’s a fact, by the way).
• Why is hockey popular in Russia? Low temperatures, national love to the sports, or communistic heritage?
• Can adults enroll in hockey and become a champion? A length of hockey athletes career.
• Hockey injuries. What are unique traumas that you can get in that sport?
• Aggressiveness in hockey. Are hockey players more aggressive than players in other sports?
• Olympic vs. League Hockey. Are there any differences?
• Differences between hockey schools in the USA and Canada.
• 5 hockey inventions that are used in everyday life. 
• How fast can a puck run? How fast can a hockey player run? Can a puck break through a human body? Hockey can a dozen amazing stats that you can write about.
• Why is hockey so profitable? Secrets of huge fortunes earned in this sport.
• Evolution of hockey: changes in rules and practices within the last 50 years.

      💪 Athletic Training Research Topics + Sports Psychology

I know that 4 of 5 of psychology students are assigned with essays and research papers on training. It is not surprising — training is a complex psychological process of overcoming physical and mental barriers to improve body performance. Moreover, mental strength is as important as physical power for athletic competition. Scientists proved that the nervous system has a bigger impact on functional strength than muscle mass and training.

My topics already consider the latest research findings. Don’t worry: all these questions exist in academia, however fantastic they may sound.

• What determines strength: a neural system or muscle mass? 
• Do strict sports rules generate stress? Impact of game rules on athletic training.
• “Second breath”: myth of truth? What determines the stamina of an athlete and how to train it?
• Team chants: do they help to play better? Techniques and secrets of teambuilding in team sports.
• Willpower and sports. Do athletes really have a swift and robust character?
• “Adrenaline junkies” in sports. Is that true that adrenaline is an addictive drug and many athletes practice risky sports just to get their dope?
• Multitasking in sports as a barrier to performance Why team captains usually strike fewer goals than ordinary team members?
• Hygiene in sports. Why not taking a shower is dangerous for health? 
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and sports. Do people with ADHD are prone to becoming athletes?
• Sports trophies and self-esteem. Does winning cups and medals help teenagers to prove their worthiness to parents and peers?
• Selfies and sports safety. What causes people to take dangerous selfies while doing extreme sports?

If you want to focus on money in sports, scroll down to sports marketing topics. We all want to know where to find 💰💰💰, and in sports, they are all around for well-informed business people.

     👨‍👩‍👧‍👧  Sports Sociology Research Topics

Sports research paper topics of sociology focus on two things: why do people play sports, and what sports make for society. I composed the list below to allow you to explore these questions in depth and width. Sports are the social activity by the very definition — even when they are not played in the team, they are spectated by other people. Therefore, every sociology idea from the list below will work, regardless of your major.

• Sports behavior in kids. Do sports and training present a part in human instincts.
• Sports as a tribal behavior. Do Indigenous Australians, Native Americans or Native Africans play their unique sports?
• Sports as a mental health treatment. Can psychological diseases be cured with training and sports?
• Sports and school performance. Do young athletes really study worse than nerds? Why?
• Why is physical education mandatory in schools? Besides, did you know that in some countries, physical education is mandatory for college students too, even with the major in math?
• Sexual activity and sports. Are athletes more sexually active than their non-training peers? What causes such an effect?
• Transgender women: should they compete against males or females? It’s a difficult but interesting topic to research.
• Gender and sports. Do representatives of different genders perceive sports differently?
• Athletes as role models. Is an idol from the sports industry better for child’s development than a pop star?
• Are sports a reasonable career? How athletes as professionals compare to other jobs in the labor market of your country?
• Youth sports and juvenile delinquency. Is that true that playing sports and training at school reduces kid’s chances to commit crimes and get into jail?

     🤑 Sports Marketing Research Topics

Sports marketing ≠ sports advertising, my dear students. Marketing is far, far more complex — professionals research the whole society to find how to transform and adapt sports to maximize popularity and revenue. Online event streams, e-sports, viral campaigns with athletes: these are only a few attempts made to convert sports as an industry. So, instead of writing about generic “How to advertise sports,” let me show you some advanced but easy topics to write about.

• International tickets selling. How to sell tickets to people who don’t even speak English?
• Viral sports promotion. What are the most successful PR cases of sports marketing in the US?
• How to promote your sports even for free and gain revenue? 
• Tickets are not the primary source of revenue in sports. How do event hosts and sports associations earn billions on food, ads, and merchandise?
• Marketing budgets for Olympics. What are the most expensive items in the purchase list for an international event?
• Sports celebrities and food advertising. Is it ethical for star athletes to advertise McDonald’s?
• Marketing Eagles vs. Marketing Dragons. What are the differences between sports markets in the US and China?
• Social media and sports motivation. Can sports pictures and videos on Instagram help to attract people to sports and training?
• How to attract the local community to your gym? Sports and fitness as a business.
• Personal data and sports. How can marketers use your sports behavior data to advertise and sell stuff to you?
• Banned sports ads. What advertisements about sports were removed from screens and paper by courts and public volunteers? Why?

Are you ready for some expert stuff? I’ve also disclosed our internal topic checklist from Homework Lab. Check it below if you want to select your own idea and don’t get stuck without sources! 👇

   Criteria for Selecting a Good Sports Research Paper Topic

There is a Golden Essay Idea Checklist that is used by our Geeks in their works — it helps to avoid writing crises, lack of information and low grades!

1. Google your idea for controversy! Anecdotal case: “sports rehab” topic was returned to a student for a second resit. Tutors required to write about treating injuries with sports — and the submitted paper was about the rehabilitation of people with a drug addiction! Google your idea to avoid such anecdotes.
2. Check availability of sources! Some fresh topics as so fresh so you will not find any articles or books to use for citation 😋. This problem is very critical for athletic training research topics!
3. Mind Ethics! Students are often directed by tutors to resit on the paper — in lucky cases! — for such proposals as testing substances on athletes. Sports psychology topics should also consider human dignity, research ethics and morals, which are required by every tutor in the US, the UK, and Australia!
4. Use a human-centered approach! A research design that focuses on the safety of people and their wellbeing is a must for students in 2018. Safety of athletes from injuries in high-performance competitions is more desired topic than discussing the opportunities to push the human organism to its limits.

Now, you are ready to proceed! All the topics in this article have passed the Golden Checklist and are safe to use. However, if you alter them, it will be necessary to re-check everything. Here is a table with reminders for you

   3 Sources To Choose a Right Topic & Start Researching 

No topic suits you 100%, and you don’t feel satisfied? Or, you want to find more information to start off your paper? Here are three main websites to keep on the sharp edge of sports research. Maybe, even closer to the edge than your tutor! I used them to compose this list.

1. BBC Sports

BBC is famous worldwide, and the section “Sports” covers all the recent sports events in the world. Visiting this web page may help you to find the urgent topic or the topic you have a particular interest in. It’s a good place to find trendy discussions and hot academic findings, as well as industry news.

2. The Sport Journal

It’s a peer-reviewed journal that focuses sports published by the US Sports Academy. Here you could search for articles in the field of sports science that will help you to produce a good paper. Use this when you need academic articles in your paper — or you just want to look more professional.

3. Sportscience

In this resource, you could find articles, research reports and statistics on sports. There are a lot of topics that could be explored using this resource – it will help you to find the most interesting one for you. Don’t be afraid of the old-fashioned interface — what distracts other students gives you a unique and valuable resource!

Now, you are good to go… Oh no, de Saint-Exupéry and his Little Prince have something to say! 

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