Participation in high school athletics reached an all-time high in 202425, with nearly 200,000 more students taking part than the previous year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey reported 8,260,891 participants nationwide, up 198,589 from 2023-24 and surpassing the previous record of 8,062,302.
The total includes 4,723,907 boys and 3,536,984 girls, both new records. The figures were collected from the 51 NFHS member state associations, including the District of Columbia.
The 2024-25 total marks the third consecutive increase after numbers fell during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participation has grown by 642,837 in the past three years, reversing declines that began before the pandemic.
“It is wonderful to see the interest in high school sports reach new heights,” said Dr. Karissa Niehoff, NFHS CEO. “The immense value of high school sports is reflected in these impressive numbers. Students want to play with their peers and represent their schools and communities, and administrators are responding with more opportunities.”
Girls sports led the gains in 2024-25, with flag football showing the fastest growth. Participation jumped 60 percent to 68,847, and nearly 1,000 new schools added programs.
Girls wrestling topped 74,000 participants, a 15 percent increase, while boys wrestling also rebounded, surpassing 300,000 participants for the first time.
Unified Sports and Esports also saw growth. Unified Sports participants increased to 70,006 from 51,502 in 2023-24, and Esports participation rose to 30,440, up 2,939 from the previous year.
For girls, the top three sports remained outdoor track and field (513,808), volleyball (492,799) and soccer (393,048). Basketball (356,240) and fastpitch softball (331,306) followed, with competitive spirit (206,262) and tennis (204,721) also seeing gains. Cross country (189,260), swimming and diving (138,303) and lacrosse (99,292) rounded out the top 10.
Boys participation also grew in outdoor track and field, soccer and golf. Eleven-player football led with 1,031,039 participants, followed by outdoor track and field (644,235), basketball (540,704), soccer (484,908), baseball (472,598), wrestling (300,214), cross country (238,685), golf (162,357), tennis (158,667) and swimming and diving (119,102).
Texas (879,403) and California (852,575) had the highest numbers, followed by Ohio (335,808), Pennsylvania (333,123), Illinois (328,362), New York (327,068), Florida (308,396), Michigan (298,246), New Jersey (281,971) and Minnesota (232,347).
The NFHS survey began in 1971 and was updated annually through 2018-19. It resumed with the 2021-22 survey. The full 2024-25 survey will be available soon at www. nfhs.org.
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