National Federation of State High School Associations Releases 2017-18 Participation Statistics; Water Polo Continues Growth

National Federation of High Schools Participation Statistics (1969-to-2018)

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. —  Led by an additional 15,009 participants in girls sports programs, the overall number of participants in high school sports increased for the 29th consecutive year in 2017-18, according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

The number of participants in high school sports in 2017-18 reached an all-time record high of 7,979,986, according to figures from the 51 NFHS member state high school associations, which includes the District of Columbia. The number of girls participating in high school sports reached an all-time high of 3,415,306, and boys participation also set a new standard at 4,564,680.

“There are many positives about the numbers in this year’s sports participation survey,” said Karissa Niehoff, who began her duties as NFHS executive director earlier this month after eight years as executive director of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference-Connecticut Association of Schools. “First, the upward trek of interest in high school sports continued for the 29th consecutive year. The model of sports within the education-based school system continues to thrive in the United States.

This year’s survey indicated participation by high school students in 65 different sports, as well as 13 adapted sports for students with disabilities. Some of the more popular non-traditional sports were badminton (17,898), archery (10,460) and fencing (4,513), along with two relative newcomers – bass fishing and ultimate frisbee.

Water Polo has a total of 43,555 participants (22,501 boys, 21,054 girls) per the report.  Overall, the sport ranks as the 20th most popular high school non-adapted sport as outdoor track & field (1,088,689), football (1,038,179), basketball (963,780), soccer (846,844), volleyball (507,559), cross country (493,613), baseball (488,859), fastpitch softball (369,450), tennis (348,919), swimming & diving (314,529), wrestling (262,126), golf (222,805), lacrosse (210,217), competitive spirit (166,520), indoor track & field (153,416), field hockey (60,329), bowling (60,039), team tennis (51,947), ice hockey (44,669), water polo (43,555), weightlifting (30,858), gymnastics (20,582), badminton (17,898), dance (15,028), flag football (12,151), drill team (10,524), archery (10,460), alpine skiing (9,933), cross country skiing (9,122), slowpitch softball (6,919), fencing (4,513), crew (4,517), rifle (3,434), canoe paddling (2,676), rugby (2,593), unified track & field (2,460), sand volleyball (2,443), trap shooting (2,001), bass fishing (1,957), equestrian (1,306), surfing (1,302), ultimate frisbee (1,230), judo (1,195), mixed co-ed volleyball (990), air rifle (951), bocce (759), snowboarding (739), mountain biking (664), synchronized swimming (627), decathlon (431), sailing (346), soft tennis (319), roller hockey (315), squash (235), rodeo (231), kayaking (196), unified flag football (143), rock climbing (111), heptathlon (100), native youth Olympics (55), martial arts (39), cycling (25), rythmic gymnastics (5) and figure skating (3) all recorded participation numbers during the 2017-18 academic year.

“It is great to see new sport opportunities created to involve as many students as possible in high school sports,” Niehoff said. “Certainly, the goal is to involve more and more young people in sports and activity programs because the benefits of participating in sports and activities is the same whether it is football, baseball, lacrosse, music, band or debate.”

The top 10 states by participants remained the same; however, Ohio moved ahead of Illinois into fourth place this year. Texas and California topped the list again with 824,619 and 819,625 participants, respectively, followed by New York (378,065), Ohio (347,567), Illinois (338,848), Pennsylvania (319,867), Florida (311,361), Michigan (296,625), New Jersey (281,800) and Minnesota (240,433).

The participation survey has been compiled in its current form by the NFHS since 1971 through numbers it receives from its member state associations.

Water Polo (by the numbers):

Using the 2009-10 academic year as a baseline (due to it being the first year broken down for comparison purposes), water polo has experience a steady growth over the past eight years on the high school level. 

In boys play, the sport has seen the number of high schools sponsoring the sport increase by 80 institutions from 758 schools in 2009-10 to 838 programs in 2017-18.  As the number of programs has grown, so have the number of athletes with 1,752 more athletes competing from 2010 (20,749) to 2018 (22,501).

The same is true in girls’ competition as 99 more programs competed in 2018 (844) compared to 2010 (745).  Similar to boys’ competition, the number of athletes has also spiked with 21,504 girls diving into the pool in 2018 compared to 18,592 in 2010, a growth of 2,912 athletes.

Overall, water polo has experienced a rise of 4,214 boys/girls competing in the sport on the high school level since 2010.

Note, numbers are based exclusively on data reported to the NFHS and does not factor in athletes competing on club teams outside of high schools or for programs affiliated with or hosted by a high school but not listed as competitive sports.

The growth of water polo on the high school level has occurred primarily in California with experiencing the second highest increase in participation during the examined time period.

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