For the first time since 2013, participation in 11-man tackle high school football is up. According to a National Federation of State High School Associations’ Athletics Participation Survey, high school football had 54,969 more players during the 2022-23 sports year, which pushed the overall number back above the million mark. 1,028,761 student-athletes took part in the sport in 22-23.
This is only the second increase since the all-time high of 1,112,303 in 2008-09. There also was a slight gain (34,935 to 35,301) in the number of boys in 6-, 8- and 9-player football.
The survey indicates that there were 13,670 schools playing 11-man football during the 22-23 high school sports year.
The number of girls playing football – particularly flag football – continued to climb as well. A total of 20,875 girls participated in flag football in 2022-23 – an increase of 32 percent. Seven states now sponsor a state championship in girls flag and more are in the planning stages. The number of girls in 11-player football increased 18 percent with 3,654 participants.
Altogether, boys and girls participation in all versions of football increased from 1,028,976 to 1,089,880 – a jump of six percent.
Overall, high school football is the most popular high school sport. Outdoor Track & Field is the second most popular with nearly 605,000 participants.
The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey was started in 1971 and was compiled in its current form through the 2018-19 school year, resuming annually last year with the 2021-22 survey. The complete 2022-23 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey will be available soon on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org.
