High School Participation Rates

Lacrosse may still not challenge the top 10 sports in terms of high school participation, but it is continuing to expand rapidly when most sports are not. And lacrosse is among the fastest growing sports that are in the top 15 in popularity. Data on school sponsorship and student participation are compiled annually by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). The tables below, which are also available as PDF files to facilitate printing (sponsorship and participation), show in most cases the top 16 boys' and girls' HS sports in terms of schools and participation for 2008-2009 with comparable data for 2003-2008. Also see the graphs beneath the tables.

For both boys and girls, lacrosse is among the top three most rapidly growing sports for school sponsorship and student-athlete participation. Both sports are now ranked 11th in participation, and girls' lacrosse should reach the top 10 in a few more years.

B O Y S - S P O N S O R S H I P
Sport	Schools							% Change
Sport	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	08 09	01 09
Basketball	17,333	17,389	17,482	17,535	17,762	17,861	17,869	0.0%	4.3%
Track & Field (outdoor)	15,195	15,221	15,294	15,497	15,709	15,835	15,936	0.6%	6.1%
Baseball	14,988	14,984	15,161	15,290	15,458	15,720	15,699	-0.1%	6.1%
Football (11-player)	13,642	13,680	13,671	13,727	13,922	13,987	14,105	0.8%	4.8%
Cross Country	12,574	12,649	12,727	13,110	13,354	13,485	13,647	1.2%	11.4%
Golf	13,120	12,921	13,152	13,267	13,541	13,647	13,543	-0.8%	5.7%
Soccer	10,103	10,219	10,392	10,580	11,066	11,122	11,139	0.2%	13.1%
Wrestling	9,543	9,526	9,562	9,744	9,445	10,090	10,254	1.6%	9.0%
Tennis	9,411	9,427	9,426	9,706	9,438	9,576	9,499	-0.8%	-2.7%
Swimming & Diving	5,588	5,758	5,878	6,224	6,358	6,428	6,558	2.0%	21.5%
Track & Field (indoor)	2,135	2,185	2,295	2,394	2,725	3,095	3,172	2.5%	51.6%
Bowling	1,281	1,477	1,768	1,954	2,089	2,261	2,427	7.3%	205.7%
Volleyball	1,650	1,683	1,688	1,726	2,006	2,006	2,192	9.3%	27.7%
Lacrosse	1,107	1,156	1,334	1,395	1,588	1,815	1,984	9.3%	111.5%
Team Tennis	764	802	1,223	1,138	1,543	1,342	1,832	36.5%	139.8%
Ice Hockey	1,427	1,467	1,474	1,503	1,576	1,564	1,601	2.4%	21.6%

B O Y S - P A R T I C I P A T I O N
Sport	Participants (Thousands)							% Change
Sport	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	08 09	01 09
Football (11-player)	1023.1	1032.7	1045.5	1071.8	1104.5	1108.3	1112.3	0.4%	9.9%
Track & Field (outdoor)	498.0	504.8	516.7	534.0	544.2	548.8	558.0	1.7%	13.5%
Basketball	540.9	544.8	545.5	546.3	556.3	552.9	545.1	-1.4%	1.0%
Baseball	453.8	457.1	459.7	470.7	477.3	478.0	473.2	-1.0%	5.0%
Soccer	345.2	349.8	354.6	358.9	378.0	383.6	383.8	0.1%	15.3%
Wrestling	239.8	238.7	243.0	251.5	257.2	259.7	267.4	3.0%	9.1%
Cross Country	191.8	196.4	201.7	208.3	216.1	221.1	231.5	4.7%	22.8%
Tennis	144.8	152.9	148.5	153.0	156.9	156.3	157.2	0.6%	9.4%
Golf	162.8	163.3	161.0	161.3	159.7	160.0	157.1	-1.8%	-2.9%
Swimming & Diving	94.6	96.6	103.8	107.5	106.7	111.9	130.2	16.3%	46.6%
Lacrosse	50.0	53.4	60.0	65.0	71.5	82.9	88.5	6.9%	111.7%
Track & Field (indoor)	51.9	51.9	56.6	59.7	62.5	67.2	67.4	0.3%	32.9%
Volleyball	39.3	40.1	41.6	42.9	46.2	46.8	49.3	5.5%	24.1%
Ice Hockey	35.2	36.2	37.0	36.3	36.0	36.7	37.3	1.6%	12.6%
Team Tennis	12.0	12.9	21.6	20.6	23.6	27.1	33.4	23.4%	178.5%
Bowling	16.0	17.7	20.5	22.0	23.3	26.4	27.0	2.4%	166.8%

G I R L S - S P O N S O R S H I P
Sport	Schools							% Change
Sport	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	08 09	01 09
Basketball	17,028	17,061	17,175	17,275	17,458	17,564	17,582	0.1%	4.9%
Track & Field (outdoor)	15,032	15,089	15,213	15,417	15,578	15,772	15,864	0.6%	7.3%
Softball (fast pitch)	14,007	14,181	14,493	14,710	14,968	14,846	15,172	2.2%	24.6%
Volleyball	14,244	14,181	14,526	14,578	14,881	15,009	15,069	0.4%	10.8%
Cross Country	12,083	12,235	12,345	12,989	13,146	13,294	13,457	1.2%	14.7%
Soccer	9,299	9,490	9,695	9,970	10,503	10,543	10,548	0.0%	18.1%
Tennis	9,332	9,559	9,646	9,816	9,678	9,694	9,732	0.4%	1.3%
Golf	8,106	8,171	8,249	8,816	9,046	9,447	9,344	-1.1%	23.3%
Swimming & Diving	6,120	6,176	6,238	6,559	6,708	6,766	6,902	2.0%	20.4%
Competitive Spirit	4,644	3,693	3,482	3,914	3,743	4,510	4,748	5.3%	41.6%
Track & Field (indoor)	2,080	2,096	2,220	2,308	2,367	2,659	2,677	0.7%	31.1%
Bowling	1,176	1,467	1,676	1,871	2,012	2,321	2,345	1.0%	171.4%
Team Tennis	908	808	1,264	1,178	1,588	1,383	1,881	36.0%	107.2%
Field Hockey	1,594	1,634	1,684	1,668	1,493	1,760	1,818	3.3%	12.7%
Lacrosse	970	1,176	1,270	1,349	1,480	1,624	1,780	9.6%	127.3%
Gymnastics	1,593	1,475	1,430	1,484	1,516	1,454	1,495	2.8%	-2.2%

G I R L S - P A R T I C I P A T I O N
Sport	Participants (Thousands)							% Change
Sport	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	08 09	01 09
Track & Field (outdoor)	415.6	418.3	428.2	439.2	444.2	447.5	457.7	2.3%	10.1%
Basketball	457.2	458.0	456.5	452.9	457.0	449.5	444.8	-1.0%	-1.7%
Volleyball	396.7	396.3	386.0	390.0	405.8	398.0	404.2	1.6%	3.4%
Softball (fast pitch)	357.9	362.5	364.8	369.1	373.4	371.3	368.9	-0.6%	5.3%
Soccer	301.5	309.0	316.1	321.6	337.6	346.5	344.5	-0.6%	18.0%
Cross Country	163.4	166.3	170.5	176.0	183.4	190.3	198.2	4.1%	25.0%
Tennis	162.8	167.8	169.3	173.8	176.7	172.5	177.6	3.0%	8.1%
Swimming & Diving	141.5	144.6	148.2	147.4	143.6	147.2	158.9	7.9%	13.8%
Competitive Spirit	111.2	89.4	84.4	98.6	95.2	111.3	117.8	5.8%	33.0%
Golf	62.2	63.2	64.2	64.2	66.3	69.2	69.2	0.0%	16.3%
Lacrosse	38.9	43.1	48.1	52.0	54.8	61.1	64.9	6.3%	100.4%
Field Hockey	61.1	62.0	63.0	62.3	63.9	62.6	64.6	3.2%	6.0%
Track & Field (indoor)	47.3	46.6	51.9	58.1	56.1	59.8	59.9	0.1%	33.2%
Team Tennis	15.5	13.6	23.6	22.5	25.9	28.8	36.6	27.3%	136.7%
Bowling	13.9	16.2	18.7	20.1	20.9	25.4	23.8	-6.1%	119.6%
Gymnastics	21.1	19.9	19.1	17.4	18.9	18.1	18.8	4.3%	-9.8%

*** Click on graphs to view them full size. ***

Tickets

Find Tickets:
Follow the coast-to-coast action with your favorite team. Buy Tickets.

See all tickets