High School Sports Participation Increases Again
Tuesday, August 20th, 2013 -- 10:10 AM
Participation in high school sports nationwide increased for the 24th consecutive year in 2012-13 and passed the 7.7 million mark for the first time, according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations.Based on figures from the 51 NFHS-member state high school associations, which includes the District of Columbia, sports participation for the 2012-13 school year reached an all-time high of 7,713,577 participants ? an increase of 21,057 from the previous year. The participation numbers reflect multi-sport athletes counted multiple times for the respective number of sports they participate in annually.
Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director said that while they recognize that many schools are experiencing challenges with funding high school sports programs, they are encouraged that schools are responding to the challenges and that more and more students are involved in high school sports. He went to say that ?Playing sports within the school setting continues to be the desire of more than 55 percent of students enrolled in our nation?s high schools.?
Eight of the top 10 girls sports registered increases in participation in 2012-13, led by competitive spirit squads (8,201), outdoor track and field (4,172), and swimming and diving (3,536). Lacrosse, cross country, volleyball, soccer and tennis also had additional female participants, while basketball and fast-pitch softball had minor declines.
Five of the top 10 boys sports showed increases in participation, led by outdoor track and field (5,044), swimming and diving (4,354), and basketball (3,387). Cross country and baseball also registered gains among top 10 sports.
Eleven-player football remains the top sport for boys with 1,086,627 participants in 2012-13, although the number of players has decreased slightly each of the past four years, including a drop of 9,366 from 2011-12 to 2012-13.
The participation survey has been compiled since 1971 by the NFHS through numbers it receives from its member associations.
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