In the 2023–24 school year, more than eight million people played high school sports. This is a new record for overall participation and the first time that number has ever been higher than eight million.
The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey found that 8,062,302 people played high school sports in 2023–24. This is more than the previous record of 7,980,886 set in 2017–18 and more than the increase of 210,469 from the previous year. Numbers from the 51 NFHS member state associations, which includes the District of Columbia, show that there are a record high 4,638,785 boys and 3,423,517 girls in the total.
The total for 2023–24 was the second straight rise after numbers dropped during the pandemic. Since the first study after the pandemic, 444,248 more high school students have joined sports teams. This is a change from the year before the pandemic, when fewer students were playing sports.
The CEO of the NFHS, Dr. Karissa Niehoff, said, “We are thrilled to learn that for the first time, more than eight million more people are playing high school sports.” “The return of school sports after a break during the pandemic has been so satisfying and shows that education-based sports will continue to be a part of our nation’s schools.” We thank the coaches, sports directors, and other school officials who make these opportunities possible for the athletes.
Two of the most important stories are the rises in high school football for both boys and girls and the continued rises in wrestling for both boys and girls. Eleven-player football stayed the most popular sport for boys and saw a rise from 1,028,761 to 1,031,508. The number of people playing 8-player football also went up, from 23,812 to 26,420.
But girls’ football made the most progress, especially with the rise of flag football as a new sport. Between 2022–23 and 2023–24, more than twice as many girls played flag football. There were 42,955 girls who played flag football in 2023–24, up from 20,875 the year before. This is a 105% rise. And there are now 17,31% more players than there were in 2021-22, when there were 15,716. It also went up from 3,654 to 4,094 the number of girls playing on 11-person football teams.
The total number of football players in 2023–24 was 1,118,705, up 28,825 from 2022–23. This included boys and girls who played 6-, 8-, 9-, and 11-player football, as well as girls and boys who played flag football.
Another great thing is that both boys’ and girls’ wrestling has seen a big increase for the second year in a row. Last year, there were 291,874 boys wrestling, up from 259,431 the year before. That’s an increase of 32,443. There have been 60,000 more boys wrestling since the 2021-22 season, which is a huge 25% rise. In addition, the number of girls who play sports has continued its long-term rise. Last year, 64,257 girls did so, up 102% from 31,654 in 2021-22.
Outdoor track and field, volleyball, and soccer all saw rises in participation and stayed the top three games for girls. Track and field saw a 4% rise to 506,015, with volleyball coming in at 479,125 and soccer at 383,895. It went down by about 6,000 people, but basketball (367,284) stayed in fourth place. It was followed by fast-pitch softball (345,451), tennis (195,766), cross country (192,989), competitive spirit (181,023 – up 20 percent), swimming and diving (138,174), and lacrosse (101,204).
Sports like soccer, outdoor track and field, and football also got better for boys. Outside track and field (625,333) and 11-player football are next on the list for boys. Next are basketball (536,668), baseball (471,701), soccer (467,483), wrestling (291,874), cross country (239,381), tennis (157,835), golf (155,174), and swimming and diving (116,799).
There will be more people playing Esports and Unified Sports in 2023–24 as well. There were a total of 27,051 students who played Esports last year, with 23,041 boys and 4,010 girls. This is 3,129 more students than the previous year. There were 51,502 people who participated in the 15 Unified Sports, up from 42,010 in 2022–23, according to the poll.
The states with the most participants were still Texas (859,301) and California (834,103). Third place went to New York with 341 454 people, then Pennsylvania with 336 946, Ohio with 323 117, Illinois with 320 603 people, Florida with 299 398 people, Michigan with 289 740 people, New Jersey with 280 798 people, and Minnesota with 224 179 people.
The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey has been going since 1971. It was put together in its current form until the 2018–19 school year. Starting with the 2021–22 survey, it will be done every year. Soon, the full 2023–24 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey will be on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org.