Best High Schools for Sports in Every State

Every level of sports has made great strides over the years, but perhaps no level has made a bigger jump than high school sports.

The United States has over 37,000 high schools, and broadcast access to games and events for some high schools rivals that of collegiate programs. Just think: Forty years ago, the NBA Finals were aired on tape delay. Now, you can stream a live junior varsity archery contest between high school teams.

With this increased exposure to high school sports, a bigger spotlight has been placed on athletic programs that are a cut above the rest. Some schools have dominant teams in many different sports. Others specialize in just one or two sports.

We have compiled a list of the top high school sports programs by state, plus Washington, D.C. The sports they specialize in include everything from football to swimming to rugby to crew. The criteria emphasized state and national championships above all else, but it also took into account all-time wins, record streaks and collegiate/Olympic/professional athletes produced.

Did your high school make the cut?

City: Hoover

Year opened: 1994

Type of school: Public

Enrollment: 2,950

Best sport: Football

Two-a-days are more than just having two practices in a single day. “Two-A-Days” also was the name of an MTV reality show that chronicled the Hoover High football team.

The show aired from August 2006 to March 2007 and was the high school version of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” The reason why MTV chose Hoover High is because of its dominant football program, which had won four straight state titles when the show premiered.

Since then, the school has won six more championships for a total of 13 state titles, with 11 coming since 2000.

* Stats are current through March 2024. Enrollment numbers, however, are an estimate, as they can change month to month.

City: Soldotna

Year opened: 1980

Type of school: Public

Enrollment: 563

Best sport: Football

Yes, high school football is played in Alaska. And yes, the game is more than the six- or eight-man variety. While those forms of football are available throughout the state, Soldotna High School lines up 11 players to a side, and they dominate all competition in front of them.

The Soldotna Stars football team won eight straight state championships from 2012-2019. They also had a state-record win streak of 59 games that lasted until the first week of the 2018 season in which they stepped up in class and lost to an Alaska high school with three times the enrollment. But Soldotna rebounded to win the remainder of that season’s games to keep their state title streak alive.

After a few years off, the school one its 13th state championship in 2023.