Friday, February 14, 2025

Record surge: Athletic participation tops 8 million

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In the 2023-24 school year, more than 8 million students participated in high school sports, setting a new record, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which reported results from the NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey.

(Thomson20192 via Flickr Creative Commons)

This is the first time participation exceeded 8 million, with 8,062,302 students involved. This significant increase of 210,469 from the previous year surpasses the old record of 7,980,886 set in 2017-18. The participation includes 4,638,785 boys and 3,423,517 girls, both record highs.

Illinois ranked among the top five high school sports participation states, with 320,603 students. The state ranked fourth for boys’ participation and fifth for girls’. The 2023-24 year marks the second consecutive increase in sports participation after a drop during the pandemic. Over the past two years, participation has grown by 444,248 students, reversing the decline before COVID-19.

One of the major highlights is the rise in football participation. Traditional 11-player football, the most popular boys’ sport, increased for the second year. Girls’ flag football also saw a dramatic rise, more than doubling participation from 20,875 to 42,955 and growing by 173% since 2021-22. Overall, football participation, including all formats, reached 1,118,705.

Wrestling also experienced a significant boost. Boys’ wrestling increased by 32,443 participants, totaling 291,874, and has seen a 25% increase since the 2021-22 season. Girls’ wrestling grew by 102%, from 31,654 to 64,257 participants. Other sports, such as outdoor track and field, volleyball, and soccer, also saw increases, with track and field being the top sport for girls.

Esports and Unified Sports also grew. Esports participation increased to 27,051 students, and Unified Sports saw a rise to 51,502 participants. The top high school sports participation states were Texas and California, followed by New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, which has been tracking sports participation since 1971, will soon release the complete 2023-24 results on nfhs.org. This annual survey helps measure the trends and changes in high school sports participation nationwide.

Press Releasehttp://news.schoolsdo.org
This information was provided in a press release and may be edited for clarity and/or brevity.

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