Lacrosse at the high school level has grown over 100% just since 2001. While it may still not challenge the top 10 sports in terms of sponsorship, it is continuing to expand rapidly while most other sports are not. In fact, lacrosse remains among the top three fastest growing sport among those that are in the top 15 in popularity. In addition, both boys' and girls' lacrosse rank 11th in terms of student-athlete participation, and girls' lacrosse should reach the top 10 in a few years.

Data on school sponsorship and student participation are compiled annually by the National Federation of State High School Associations, and we have again created a summary of the NFHS data, which includes both data tables and graphs that present figures longitudinally. Over the period from 2001 through 2009, the number of high schools sponsoring boys' and girls' lacrosse increased by 111.5% and 117.3%, respectively. The number of students participating in lacrosse rose by 111.7% for boys and 100.4% for girls. For more detailed information, see the link above.

Note that the NFHS's universe is limited, so there are, for example, more than 1,000 boys' lacrosse teams and their participants that are not included in the totals. In many states, the NFHS umbrella does not include all schools. High schools in states where lacrosse is not officially sanctioned are simply not reflected in the NFHS figures.

The link above can also be found in the right-hand Special Analyses section on the LaxPower main page.

2009-09-13