Top 5 most popular high school sports in America

For many students, sports play a large part in the high school experience. While the number of students who play sports in high school declined slightly in the 2018-19 school year, there were still 7,937,491 participants; sports are still a very popular extracurricular activity for students 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 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). To see all of the NFHS participation surveys dating 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 is 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 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.

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.

I am an article writer for various sports for news site