Michigan’s national rankings for participation in high school athletics – overall, and separately for girls and boys participation – remained steady during the 2024-25 school year and continued to outpace the state’s national ranking for high school-aged population, according to the annual national participation study conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

Michigan remained eighth for overall participation nationally, based on a total of 298,246 participants. The total counts students once for each sport played, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.

Michigan also remained seventh nationally for boys (173,320) and eighth for girls (124,926) participation separately, and again despite currently ranking 10^th for both high school-aged boys and girls populations according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Michigan’s national rankings in eight sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments improved from 2023-24, while eight sports also moved down on their respective lists from the previous year.

Two sports jumped two spots on their respective lists, with Michigan’s football total (all full-contact formats combined) of 36,119 athletes moving up to fifth and its girls track & field participation total of 18,108 athletes moving up to sixth nationally. Boys ice hockey (third), boys tennis (fourth), boys track & field (fifth), boys cross country (sixth), girls gymnastics (12^th) and girls lacrosse (13^th) also moved up on their respective lists.  

Keeping with annual trends, participation in several more MHSAA sports also continued to outpace the state’s rankings for high school-aged population.

For girls, participation in tennis (third), bowling (third), golf (fourth), volleyball (fifth), cross country (sixth), track & field (sixth), basketball (seventh), softball (eighth), swimming & diving (eighth) and soccer (ninth) all ranked higher than their population listing of 10^th nationally. Among boys sports, bowling (second), ice hockey (third), tennis (fourth), football (all contact formats – fifth), golf (fifth), track & field (fifth), cross country (sixth), basketball (seventh), swimming & diving (eighth), wrestling (eighth), baseball (ninth) and lacrosse (ninth) exceeded the boys ranking of 10^th for population.

Only 12 states sponsor alpine skiing, but Michigan again ranked third on both the girls and boys lists for that sport.

Participation nationally again exceeded 8 million participants after reaching that milestone for the first time in 2023-24, with the total of 8,260,891 an increase of 2.5 percent from 2023-24. The total includes 4,723,907 boys and 3,536,984 girls – both record highs – according to figures obtained from the 51 NFHS member state associations, which include the District of Columbia.

Eleven-player football remained the most popular boys sport, totaling 1,031,039 athletes. Next on the boys list were outdoor track & field, basketball, soccer, baseball, wrestling, cross country, golf, tennis, and swimming & diving, respectively.

For girls, outdoor track & field, volleyball and soccer remained the top three participatory sports, in that order. Basketball ranked fourth, followed by softball, competitive spirit, tennis, cross country, swimming & diving and lacrosse, respectively.

Texas (879,403) and California (852,575) remained atop the list of state participation. Ohio (335,808) jumped to third, followed by Pennsylvania (333,123), Illinois (328,362), New York (327,068), Florida (308,396), Michigan (298,246), New Jersey (281,971) and Minnesota (232,347).

The NFHS participation survey was started in 1971 and compiled in its current form through the 2018-19 school year, resuming annually with the 2021-22 survey.

The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS writes playing rules for 18 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,800 high schools and 12 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than eight million in high school sports.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.