SBJ/20090817/SBJ In-Depth
High school sports participation
Published August 17, 2009
| Overall participation in high school sports has grown 14.6 percent in the past 10 years. |
| Year |
Boy participants |
Girl participants |
Total |
1-year change |
| 2007-08 |
4,372,115 |
3,057,266 |
7,429,381 |
1.20% |
| 2006-07 |
4,321,103 |
3,021,807 |
7,342,910 |
2.60% |
| 2005-06 |
4,206,549 |
2,953,355 |
7,159,904 |
2.00% |
| 2004-05 |
4,110,319 |
2,908,390 |
7,018,709 |
1.70% |
| 2003-04 |
4,038,253 |
2,865,299 |
6,903,552 |
0.90% |
| 2002-03 |
3,988,738 |
2,856,358 |
6,845,096 |
1.10% |
| 2001-02 |
3,960,517 |
2,806,998 |
6,767,515 |
0.90% |
| 2000-01 |
3,921,069 |
2,784,154 |
6,705,223 |
2.60% |
| 1999-00 |
3,861,749 |
2,675,874 |
6,537,623 |
0.80% |
| 1998-99 |
3,832,352 |
2,652,726 |
6,485,078 |
— |
| Source: National Federation of State High School Associations |
| Ten most popular boys High School programs (2007-08) |
| Rank |
Sport |
Participants |
| 1 |
Football |
1,108,286 |
 |
| 2 |
Basketball |
552,935 |
| 3 |
Track and fieldoutdoor |
548,821 |
| 4 |
Baseball |
478,029 |
| 5 |
Soccer |
383,561 |
| 6 |
Wrestling |
259,688 |
| 7 |
Cross country |
221,109 |
| 8 |
Golf |
159,958 |
| 9 |
Tennis |
156,285 |
| 10 |
Swimming and diving |
111,896 |
| |
| Source: National Federation of State High School Associations |
| |
| Ten most popular girls high School programs (2007-08) |
| Rank |
Sport |
Participants |
| 1 |
Basketball |
449,450 |
 |
| 2 |
Track and fieldoutdoor |
447,520 |
| 3 |
Volleyball |
397,968 |
| 4 |
Softball-fast pitch |
371,293 |
| 5 |
Soccer |
346,545 |
| 6 |
Cross country |
190,349 |
| 7 |
Tennis |
172,455 |
| 8 |
Swimming and diving |
147,197 |
| 9 |
Competitive spirit squads |
111,307 |
| 10 |
Golf |
69,243 |
| |
| Source: National Federation of State High School Associations |
| The next hot youth sport? |
| Panelists in the Turnkey Sports Poll were asked in July: Ten years from now, what sport is going to have the highest levels of participation amongst 10- to 18-year-olds? |
 |
Soccer |
32.26% |
| Basketball |
22.22% |
| Baseball |
15.77% |
| Lacrosse |
8.60% |
| Football |
3.58% |
| Skateboarding |
3.58% |
| Golf |
3.23% |
| Hockey |
1.79% |
| BMX |
1.43% |
| Other |
1.43% |
| Tennis |
0.36% |
| Softball |
0.00% |
| No response/Not sure |
5.73% |
| |
| Source: Turnkey Sports & Entertainment in conjunction with SportsBusiness Journal. taken in July. The survey covered more than 1,100 senior-level sports industry executives spanning professional and college sports. |
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