According to
survey results released earlier this month by the NFHS, more than 8 million students participated in high school sports in 2025-26 – an all-time high marking the fifth consecutive year of increased growth.
Girls flag football and wrestling are among the sports fueling the rise in participation.
According to the 2021-22 survey, there were 15,716 girls participating in flag football nationally. That number has increased to 102,360 – an increase of 87,000 participants in just four years an up 48.7 percent in 2025-25 alone.
Alexandria Nunez of Tucson Magnet runs for daylight during a flag football game in Arizona this week. More than 100,000 players participated in the sport during the 2025-26 year. (PHOTO: Chris Hook)
Participation in girls wrestling increased 19.9 percent from the previous year – from 74,064 to 88,771 – and the number of schools sponsoring the sport for girls now rests at 8,853.
Other sports seeing a jump included girls basketball, which was up 6,142 from the previous year to halt a downward trend that has seen numbers decline 100,000 during the past 20 years. A total of 362,382 were reported in girls basketball in 2025-26, up from 356,240 the previous year.
Girls volleyball continued its climb with another 9,257 participants and topped 500,000 for the first time. At 502,056 participants, volleyball is No. 2 in popularity for girls (see the full list below).
Five of the top 10 boys sports registered increases in 2025-26, including 11-player football, outdoor track and field, soccer, golf and tennis. Eleven-player football registered a 1.4 percent increase with another 14,128 participants and now stands at 1,043,716 – by far the most popular sport for boys or girls.
Texas (911,405) and California (859,022) remained atop the list of state participation by a wide margin. Ohio (347,994) ranked third, followed by Illinois (326,756), Pennsylvania (315,647), New York (312,563), Florida (311,233), Michigan (295,634), New Jersey (273,711) and Minnesota (241,536).
The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey was started in 1971 and provides the most comprehensive national view of participation in high school sports. The first survey in 1971 indicated 3.6 million boys and 294,015 girls involved in high school sports. Thanks to the passage of Title IX in 1972, the number of girls in high school sports jumped to 2 million by the end of the decade and now has exceeded 3.6 million.
Top 10 boys sports
Football: 11-Player — 1,043,716 student-athletes participating
Track and Field Outdoor — 648,723
Basketball — 539,883
Soccer — 487,525
Baseball — 467,530
Wrestling — 295,259
Cross Country — 247,071
Golf — 175,757
Tennis — 161,216
Swimming & Diving — 115,316
Top 10 girls sports
Track and Field Outdoor — 509,070
Volleyball — 502,056
Soccer — 390,658
Basketball — 362,382
Softball -- Fast Pitch — 331,162
Competitive Spirit Squad — 254,379
Tennis — 203,927
Cross Country — 192,813
Swimming & Diving — 130,800
Flag Football — 102,360
