More kids than ever before are participating in high school sports nationwide, with the biggest growth seen in girls’ sports that were once reserved for boys.
The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey shows 8,260,891 kids participated in high school sports in 2024-2025, which is nearly 200,000 more than the year before.
This is the third year of growth since numbers went down during the COVID pandemic.
The biggest gains were in girls flag football, which is gaining traction nationwide. Washington just made girls flag football a sanctioned school sport starting with this school year.
Girls wrestling programs also saw more interest, topping 74,000 for the first time.
More students are also participating in Unified Sports and Esports.
“It is wonderful to see the interest in high school sports reach new heights,” said Dr. Karissa Niehoff, CEO of the NFHS. “The immense value of high school sports is reflected in these impressive numbers. As high school students have consistently demonstrated their desire to play with their peers and represent their schools and community, state and school administrators have stepped up to offer more participation opportunities to meet that demand.”
Girls outdoor track and field, volleyball and soccer all grew in participation. For boys, track and field, soccer and golf all grew as well.
You can read more of the research at this link.
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