NFHS High School Sports Participation: Boys and Girls Wrestling make big gains in 2023-24

BY NFHS, Published by USA Wrestling, TheMat

Aug 20, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (August 20, 2024) — More than eight million participants competed in high school sports in the 2023-24 school year – an all-time record and the first time ever that total participation has exceeded the eight-million mark.

The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey indicated that 8,062,302 participants were involved in high school sports in 2023-24, which is up 210,469 from the previous year and tops the previous record of 7,980,886 set in 2017-18. The total includes 4,638,785 boys and 3,423,517 girls – both record highs – according to figures obtained from the 51 NFHS member state associations, which includes the District of Columbia.

The 2023-24 total marked the second consecutive increase after numbers tumbled during the pandemic. Since the initial survey after the pandemic, participation in high school sports has increased 444,248 in two years and represents a turnaround from the decline that started the year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two of the biggest storylines are the increases in all forms of high school football – boys and girls – and the continued rise in both girls and boys wrestling.

Another highlight is the sizeable jump in wrestling – boys and girls – for the second consecutive year. An additional 32,443 boys were involved in wrestling last year, jumping from 259,431 to 291,874. Since the 2021-22 season, there has been a gain of 60,000 in boys wrestling – an amazing 25 percent increase. And participation on girls teams has continued its historic rise as well with 64,257 girls participants last year – an increase of 102 percent from the 31,654 in 2021-22.

Editor's Note: Wrestling is the No. 6 sport for boys in terms of participants, with 291,874, behind only Football, track and field - outdoor, basketball, baseball and soccer. Boys wrestling remains the No. 8 sport in terms of schools, with 11,149 schools nationally.

Editor's Note: Although girls wrestling is not a top 10 sport yet, it has continued to rise and is close to breaking that barrier. Girls wrestling is No. 11 in terms of schools with 7,138, just behind No. 10 Competitive Spirit (7,827). Girls wrestling sits at No. 13 in terms of number of participants with 64,257, with No. 11 Golf (82,836) and No. 12 track-and-field indoors (69,466) the next two above.

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