Most Popular High School Sports in America

Fewer kids are playing, but sports remain a big part of the high school experience.

Most Popular High School Sports in America

Elijah Bowick — High school football is played in every U.S. state.

Sports are a big part of the high school experience for many students. Today, over 15 million teenagers in the United States are in grades 9-12, and close to 8 million of them — 7,937,491, to be exact — play high school sports.

That’s a lot of athletes, but for the first time since 1989, participation in high school sports is down, according to an annual National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) survey. Why the drop? Fewer kids are playing youth sports. Public schools have fewer students. And more parents are saying no to tackle football.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Look at all the kids who are participating in high school sports.

Honorable Mention: Skiing (Alpine) — 10,099 total participants

Sam McCarty, from Vermont's Lyndon Institute, during a 2018 giant slalom event at Burke Mountain.

States reporting for boys: 11

States reporting for girls: 11

Schools where boys participate: 577

Schools where girls participate: 560

Boy participants: 5,484

Girl participants: 4,615

Bottom line: You don’t have to be Al Roker to notice we’ve been having some strange weather. The latest winter forecast in cold-weather parts calls for teeth-chattering cold. That means snow. Lots of it.

As Bill Murray (Phil) predicted in "Groundhog Day": "It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be gray, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life."

In other words, what a time to be a skier.

25. Dance/Drill — 10,354 total participants

Green Canyon drill team — The Green Canyon (Utah) High School drill team in February 2019.

States reporting for boys: 4

States reporting for girls: 5

Schools where boys participate: 65

Schools where girls participate:195

Boy participants: 576

Girl participants: 10,159

Bottom line: Think competitive dance is a joke?

Tell that to the 90-plus dance teams performing for the national championship at the University of North Texas in March 2020.

Teams (which sometimes can have up to 75 members) will represent high schools, middle schools, colleges, even Japan.

And their moves are far from routine.

24. Archery — 10,391 total participants

A member of the High Mowing School archery club (Wilton, New Hampshire) takes a shot at the Wapack Range in 2017.

States reporting for boys: 7

States reporting for girls: 7

Schools where boys participate: 438

Schools where girls participate: 422

Boy participants: 5,394

Girl participants: 4,997

Bottom line: There are two kinds of people in the world.

Those who see a bow and arrow as a primitive weapon.

And those who are expert marksmen/women with eagle eyes and see a bow and arrow as the ideal tool to hunt giant zombie rats after the apocalypse.

Which one are you?

23. Flag Football — 12,154 total participants

Choctawhatchee High School flag football — The Choctawhatchee (Florida) High School Lady Indians flag football team playing a game in 2018.

States reporting for boys: 4

States reporting for girls: 7

Schools where boys participate: 33

Schools where girls participate: 378

Boy participants: 945

Girl participants: 11,209

Bottom line: A recent study by the Aspen Institute Sports and Society Program recommended that flag football be the only type of football played until high school — to protect the health of young athletes.

Many girls have known about this elixir of a game for years, playing high school flag football because "it’s more fun than any other sport."

22. Badminton — 18,162 total participants

Buchanan High School badminton — Badminton players from Buchanan High School in Clovis, California, in 2017.

States reporting for boys: 5

States reporting for girls: 8

Schools where boys participate: 249

Schools where girls participate: 519

Boy participants: 4,781

Girl participants: 13,381

Bottom line: This is not your grandparents' Sunday afternoon backyard game.

Badminton became an official Olympic sport at the 1992 games in Barcelona, and elite players have speed, agility, strength and flexibility.

The U.S. is still looking for its first medal. A kid can dream.

21. Gymnastics — 20,238 total participants

Rockford High School gymnast — A Rockford (Michigan) High School gymnast at the MHSAA gymnastics finals in March 2019.

States reporting for boys: 7

States reporting for girls: 27

Schools where boys participate: 104

Schools where girls participate: 1,578

Boy participants: 1,580

Girl participants: 18,658

Bottom line: If you’re a girl over 5 feet, you’re out of luck. Same goes for a guy who's taller than 5-foot-7.

Other than that, there’s no limit to what these gymnastics athletes can do with their courage and skills to soar.

20. Weightlifting — 29,144 total participants

Weightlifter — A high school weightlifter in 2019.

States reporting for boys: 10

States reporting for girls: 8

Schools where boys participate: 860

Schools where girls participate: 707

Boy participants: 17,681

Girl participants: 11,463

Bottom line: Stop us if you've heard any of these memes.

I'm not real smart, but I can lift heavy things.

Cardio = lifting weights faster.

Keep calm and lift heavy things.

Jokes aside, weightlifting is good for you.

19. Water Polo — 44,210 total participants

Water polo player — A water polo player from Marcus High School (Flower Mound, Texas) in action in 2019.

States reporting for boys: 8

States reporting for girls: 7

Schools where boys participate: 862

Schools where girls participate: 881

Boy participants: 22,475

Girl participants: 44,210

Bottom line: Have you ever seen what water polo players do to opponents underwater?

We’ll give you a hint. It’s like a Quentin Tarantino movie, but the blood is real.

The intense contact sport is grueling.

In fact, water polo requires so much strength and endurance that it might be the toughest sport in the world.

18. Ice Hockey — 44,933 total participants

Ice hockey player — An Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League (ICSHL) game with high school teams from Southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.

States reporting for boys: 19

States reporting for girls: 19

Schools where boys participate: 1,638

Schools where girls participate: 642

Boy participants: 35,283

Girl participants: 9,650

Bottom line: Ice hockey players come from where you’d expect: the Great Lakes, Midwest, New England, East Coast and Alaska.

And participation in girl's hockey has zoomed up since the early 1990s, when a girl often would have to play on a boy's team.

Fun fact: California has 524 high school ice hockey participants (495 boys, 29 girls). Overall, California has 824,709 high school sports participants, second only to New York's 825,924.*

*After New York and California, the top 10 states by participants are Ohio (339,158), Illinois (333,838), Pennsylvania (316,429), Florida (308,173), Michigan (292,947), New Jersey (281,058) and Minnesota (240,487).

17. Field Hockey — 61,036 total participants

States reporting for boys: 7

States reporting for girls: 19

Schools where boys participate: 5

Schools where girls participate: 1,768

Boy participants: 212

Girl participants: 60,824

Bottom line: Field hockey is the fourth-most popular sport in the world with 2 billion fans.

While the game doesn’t have quite the same mass appeal in America, money talks to women — in the form of scholarships from over 250 colleges.

That gives high school girls just under a 10 percent shot of making a Division I, II or III roster. Those are decent odds.

16. Bowling — 61,291 total participants

A St. Lucie West Centennial (Florida) bowler in the Jensen Beach Bowl in 2015.

States reporting for boys: 27

States reporting for girls: 28

Schools where boys participate: 2,949

Schools where girls participate: 2,925

Boy participants: 32,969

Girl participants: 28,322

Bottom line: Once upon a time, bowling was featured entertainment on the Wide World of Sports. Then, it became a cult classic with “The Big Lebowski.” Now, it’s making a comeback.

That’s good news for every roller who understands "The Dude abides." As The Stranger (Sam Elliott) says, we can "take comfort in that, knowin' he’s out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners."

And that comfort starts with bowling. Call it the circle of life. One frame at a time.

15. Track and Field (Indoor) — 150,253 total participants

Mary Cain, far right, set a girls high school record in the women's two-mile race at the 2013 Boston Indoor Grand Prix, finishing third overall at 9:38.68.

States reporting for boys: 21

States reporting for girls: 21

Schools where boys participate: 3,149

Schools where girls participate: 3,145

Boy participants: 79,550

Girl participants: 70,703

Bottom line: Why was indoor track and field invented?

The same reason fire was.

To stay warm.

14. Competitive Spirit — 165,296 total participants

Walt Whitman High School cheerleaders — Cheerleaders from Walt Whitman High School (Bethesda, Maryland) at a football game in 2018.

States reporting for boys: 21

States reporting for girls: 31

Schools where boys participate: 870

Schools where girls participate: 7,214

Boy participants: 3,938

Girl participants: 161,358

Bottom line: Hollywood has made its fair share of cheerleader movies.

Start with "Bring It On," which Roger Ebert dubbed "the 'Citizen Kane' of cheerleader movies."

Or find a real-life version of competitive spirit (the official name for cheerleading), which has increased 38 percent in participation since 2012.

13. Lacrosse — 213,452 total participants

The 2019 Country Lacrosse Festival in Nashville, Tennessee.

States reporting for boys: 25

States reporting for girls: 26

Schools where boys participate: 3,026

Schools where girls participate: 2,877

Boy participants: 113,702

Girl participants: 99,750

Bottom line: In 1970, 2,736 high school students played lacrosse.

A few years ago, it became America’s fastest-growing high school sport.

Now, one of the biggest challenges for athletic directors is finding qualified coaches to lead teams.

12. Golf — 223,021 total participants

Golfers — High school golfers at the Red Mountain Ranch Country Club in Mesa, Arizona, in 2019.

States reporting for boys: 50

States reporting for girls: 49

Schools where boys participate: 13,590

Schools where girls participate: 10,402

Boy participants: 143,200

Girl participants: 79,821

Bottom line: Shrewd, calculating, poised.

You don’t need to be the biggest, fastest or strongest to win on the golf course.

The best golfers win between the ears.

11. Wrestling — 268,565 total participants

Governor Mifflin's Jan Johnson lifts Big Spring's Tommy Rayhart in their Class AAA 195-pound finals match at the 2015 PIAA high school wrestling championships in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Johnson won.

States reporting for boys: 51

States reporting for girls: 43

Schools where boys participate: 10,843

Schools where girls participate: 2,890

Boy participants: 247,441

Girl participants: 21,124

Bottom line: Six boys high school sports are played in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Wrestling is one of them.

It’s man vs. man, man vs. self, blood and sweat — to develop leadership skills, sportsmanship and discipline.

Getting hit in the head with a metal chair is not part of this wrestling program.

Earning respect is.

10. Swimming and Diving — 309,726 total participants

Waunakee swimmer — A swimmer from Waunakee (Wisconsin) High School during a 2018 swim meet against DeForest.

States reporting for boys: 49

States reporting for girls: 49

Schools where boys participate: 7,704

Schools where girls participate: 8,007

Boy participants: 136,638

Girl participants: 173,088

Bottom line: It used to be tough (read: impossible) to make a living as a swimmer. Unless you were Michael Phelps. That's why the best high school swimmers swim on club teams.

But in 2019, an elite pro swimming league debuted with opportunities to win prize money, bonuses and build commercial value.

So if a club swimmer wanted to leave the club path and swim for their school, they could have a shot at making a swimming career beyond the Olympics.

Divers still have to compete for the love of the high dive or run some belly-flop hustles.

9. Tennis — 348,750 total participants

Dexter tennis player — A Dexter (Michigan) High School tennis player in August 2019.

States reporting for boys: 49

States reporting for girls: 49

Schools where boys participate: 9,809

Schools where girls participate: 10,290

Boy participants: 159,314

Girl participants: 189,436

Bottom line: The best high school tennis players used to not play high school tennis. Those matches wouldn't help their ranking, so they played individual tournaments all over the country.

They still play tournaments, but Universal Tennis Rating, or UTR, now allows them to also play on their high school tennis teams. Like a golf handicap, UTR provides an accurate tennis rating system that is recognized around the world to gauge a player’s talent.

College tennis coaches also accept UTR, which has become the "common language of college tennis." As a result, many top youth tennis players are (and will be) sticking around their high school courts and playing tennis for their school teams.

8. Softball (Fast Pitch) — 364,221 total participants

West Hall softball player — A West Hall (Oakwood, Georgia) High School softball hitter in 2019.

States reporting for boys: 3

States reporting for girls: 49

Schools where boys participate: 90

Schools where girls participate: 15,877

Boy participants: 2,183

Girl participants: 362,038

Bottom line: Don't let the bigger ball and smaller field size fool you. Hitting a softball might be even harder than hitting a baseball.

That’s because a fast-pitch softball pitcher, on average, releases a 70-mph pitch (equivalent to a 90-mph fastball) only 37 feet from home plate.

Softball batters need some lightning-quick hand-eye coordination and fast reaction times. Also known as athletic ability.

7. Baseball — 484,024 total participants

Olympia High School hitter — An Olympia (Orlando, Florida) High School hitter during a game in May 2019.

States reporting for boys: 48

States reporting for girls: 28

Schools where boys participate: 16,170

Schools where girls participate: 1,442

Boy participants: 482,740

Girl participants: 1,284

Bottom line: Writer/director/former minor leaguer Ron Shelton summed up everything there is to know about baseball in "Bull Durham."

"This is a simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball."

That's why the old ballgame is played in 48 states and over 17,000 high schools.

6. Cross Country — 488,640 total participants

Lawrenceville cross country runners — Cross country runners from The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey.

States reporting for boys: 51

States reporting for girls: 51

Schools where boys participate: 15,632

Schools where girls participate: 15,435

Boy participants: 269,295

Girl participants: 219,345

Bottom line: Cross country is run in every state.

The most successful cross country runners train 50 to 60 miles a week, with a long run of 12 to 14 miles.

It also helps to enjoy pain and have a little masochism in the veins.

5. Volleyball — 516,371 total participants

Carthage volleyball — A Carthage (Missouri) High School volleyball player prepares to spike the ball.

States reporting for boys: 25

States reporting for girls: 51

Schools where boys participate: 2,692

Schools where girls participate: 16,572

Boy participants: 63,563

Girl participants: 452,808

Bottom line: You don’t have to move to California if you want your kid to grow up to be a volleyball star. But it wouldn’t hurt.

The sport is played in more than 2,300 high schools in the state with 68,000 students.

And many of the national championship college teams call Cali home.

4. Soccer — 853,182 total participants

High school soccer — St. Marys (Ohio) High School squares off in a soccer game against Kenton in 2018.

States reporting for boys: 51

States reporting for girls: 51

Schools where boys participate: 12,552

Schools where girls participate: 12,107

Boy participants: 459,077

Girl participants: 394,105

Bottom line: The U.S. women’s national soccer team won its fourth World Cup in 2019 and has proven its worth and then some.

While less than 1 percent of any high school soccer players will become national players, maybe all U.S. women can be treated as equals before the U.S. men’s soccer team wins its first World Cup.

Because at the current rate, that men's World Cup title looks like it could take a while.

3. Basketball — 939,836 total participants

La Lumiere's Isaiah Stewart against Bishop Gorman in a quarterfinal game at the 2019 Geico High School Basketball Nationals in Queens, New York.

States reporting for boys: 51

States reporting for girls: 51

Schools where boys participate: 18,617

Schools where girls participate: 18,210

Boy participants: 540,769

Girl participants: 399,067

Bottom line: Basketball is played in more high schools than any other sport.

Dr. James Naismith — who invented the game in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891 to help kids stay fit during the winter — would approve.

2. Football (11 Player) — 1,008,417 total participants

Cardale Jones — Eleven-player football remains the No. 1 high school sport for boys in the U.S.

States reporting for boys: 51

States reporting for girls: 38

Schools where boys participate: 14,247

Schools where girls participate: 1,918

Boy participants: 1,006,013

Girl participants: 2,404

Bottom line: Are you worried about the death of football? Larry Fedora is.

"I think [football going away or being changed] would be the decline of our country," the former North Carolina football coach said in July 2018. "There's no doubt in my mind. I think the lessons that you learn in the game of football relay to everything that's going to happen in the rest of your life. And if we stop learning those lessons, we're going to struggle. I think in some ways we're struggling now more than we ever have. Are we ever going to be a perfect country? No. But I think the game of football has had a major impact on who we are as a country."

He has a point. See Pop Warner, George Halas and Paul Brown for supporting evidence.

1. Track and Field (Outdoor) — 1,093,621 total participants

Darby Thomas, right, from Abraham Lincoln High School (Council Bluff, Iowa) beats Iowa City West's Peyton Steva to win the high school girls' 100-meter hurdles at the 2019 Drake Relays in Des Moines.

States reporting for boys: 51

States reporting for girls: 51

Schools where boys participate: 17,052

Schools where girls participate: 17,012

Boy participants: 605,354

Girl participants: 488,267

Bottom line: The earliest sport in the history of the world is the most popular high school sport in America.

And just as the Greeks of the first Olympics searched for answers to life's biggest questions, the students of today will be the seekers of solutions for tomorrow.

Sports can provide many of the lessons they will need to be their own compass on the journey.

For more, see the complete 2018-19 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). And here are all the NFHS participation surveys dating back to 1969.