Decline of Traditional Sports

There's a quick bit on the decline of some traditional ball sports in the October issue of Outside Magazine (issue not yet online at the time of this writing):

At a time when participation in some traditional ball sports is in decline nationwide, sports like surfing and climbing—long neglected at the youth level—are enjoying unprecedented support. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), a trade group that tracks U.S. sports, reports up to 21 percent reductions in the number of school-age kids taking part in activities like basketball, baseball, and soccer from 1998 to 2004. At the same time, kayak academies, high school surf crews, and youth climbing teams have blossomed.

From this one paragraph it's impossible to know if one group is directly cannibalizing another, but it's still an interesting trend, one I wasn't aware of, and one I wouldn't have guessed from casual observation of local youth sports. I bet the SGMA reports are interesting. Too bad they range from $100 to $600 a pop (of the ones I looked at).