For some, understudies, sports have a huge influence on the high school insight. While the number of understudies who play sports in secondary school declined marginally in the 2018-19 school year, there were as yet 7,937,491 members; sports are as yet an extremely well-known extracurricular movement for understudies around the country.
Which high school sports are most popular in America? We examined the most popular high school sports for boys and girls around the country to determine the top sports in each state.
1. Track and Field — 1,093,621 total participants
The soonest sport throughout the entire existence of the world is the most mainstream secondary school sport in America. What\'s more, similarly as the Greeks of the main Olympics looked for answers to life\'s greatest inquiries, the understudies of today will be the searchers of answers for later. Sports can give a large number of the exercises they should be their own compass on the excursion.
In addition, see the total 2018-19 High School Athletics Participation Survey directed by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). To see the entirety of the NFHS support studies tracing all the way back to 1969, click here.
2. Football — 1,008,417 total participants
For boys in America, football is by far the most popular sport. When looking at high school sports stats, it’s the most popular high school sport in 43 states, and more than one million boys participated in the 2018-19 school year. Track and field are also popular among boys, with 605,354 participants.
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 for 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.
3. Basketball — 939,836 total participants
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.
4. Soccer — 853,182 total participants
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.
5. Volleyball — 516,371 total participants
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.
6. Cross Country — 488,640 total participants
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.
7. Baseball — 484,024 total participants
Former minor league 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.
8. Softball — 364,221 total participants
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.
9. Tennis — 348,750 total participants
The best secondary school tennis players used to not play secondary school tennis. Those matches wouldn\'t help their positioning, so they played individual competitions all around the country.
They actually play competitions, however Universal Tennis Rating, or UTR, presently permits them to likewise play in their secondary school tennis crews. Like a golf handicap, UTR gives a precise tennis rating framework that is perceived all throughout the planet to measure a player\'s ability.
10. Swimming and Diving — 309,726 total participants
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.