Participation Remains Steady in 2018-19

MHSAA News

July 18, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools continued to experience a decade-long decline in enrollment in 2018-19, and participation across 28 sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments also decreased slightly. However, while the drop in enrollment was 1.28 percent from the previous school year, participation fell only 1.03 percent as four sports repeated in setting records.

A total of 281,992 participants competed in MHSAA-sponsored sports this past school year. The overall MHSAA participation totals count students once for each sport in which they participate, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.

Boys participation fell 1.2 percent to 161,614, and for the first time in four years girls participation also decreased, by eight tenths of a percent to 120,378. However, both reductions were smaller than losses in enrollment of 1.36 percent for boys and 1.19 for girls. Since the 2008-09 school year, overall enrollment in MHSAA member high schools is down 12.8 percent. But during that time, overall participation in MHSAA-sponsored sports is down only 7.3 percent.

Girls lacrosse continued its run of setting a participation record every season since becoming a sponsored tournament sport in 2005, this spring with 3,180 participants – a 9.7-percent increase from a year ago. Boys lacrosse set a record for the third consecutive year, up 5.2 percent with 5,438 participants. Both boys and girls bowling also repeated in breaking participation records – boys bowling participation increased 4.7 percent over 2017-18 with 4,329 participants, while girls bowling was up 1.1 percent with 3,093 athletes. Boys cross country, with 9,588 athletes, just missed last year’s record-setting total but still saw its second-largest group of participants since totals first were tracked year-to-year in 1991-92.

Seven more sports saw increases in participation in 2018-19, boys skiing leading the way with 11.2-percent growth – its 6,284 athletes were the sport’s most since 2014-15 thanks with an increase of three tenths of a percent over a year ago. Girls and boys tennis both saw increases; girls 1.8 percent to 9,286 athletes, its most since 2011-12, and boys up 1.6 percent to 6,261 athletes, its most since 2014-15.

Girls swimming & diving was up 1.1 percent to 5,794 athletes, its most since 2013-14. Girls track & field had its highest number of participants since 2009-10 with 17,406, with an increase of seven tenths of a percent from last year. Wrestling increased a percent from 2017-18, to 9,494 athletes, ending two years of declines. Boys Golf was up three tenths of a percent to 6,284 athletes, ending three straight years of decreases.

While 17 sports saw decreases in participation, eight saw decreases by smaller percentages than the loss of enrollment: boys basketball (-1.2 percent), girls competitive cheer (-0.6), boys cross country (-0.7), girls gymnastics (-1.1), girls skiing (-0.5), boys soccer (-0.9), girls soccer (-0.1) and boys track & field (-0.1). Football, despite a decrease in participation of 4.3 percent, remains the most played sport by far with 35,412 participants. Boys track & field is second with 23,548, followed by boys basketball with 21,125. Girls volleyball, despite a 1.8-percent decline from a year ago, remains the most popular girls sport with 19,072 athletes.

The participation figures are gathered annually from MHSAA member schools to submit to the National Federation of State High School Associations for compiling of its national participation survey. Results of Michigan surveys from the 2000-01 school year to present may be viewed on the MHSAA Website.

The following chart shows participation figures for the 2018-19 school year from MHSAA member schools for sports in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament:

	BOYS	GIRLS
Sport	Schools (A)	Participants	Schools (A)	Participants (B)
Baseball	639/9	17,211	-	0/23
Basketball	731/2	21,119	693	15,376/6
Bowling	398/13	4,302	370	3,093/27
Competitive Cheer	-	-	347	6,672
Cross Country	634/0	9,588	619	8,144
Football - 11 player	572/82	33,868	-	0/94
8-player	79/10	1,432	-	0/18
Golf	504/74	6,136	337	3,587/148
Gymnastics	-	-	86	694
Ice Hockey	242/10	3,282	-	-/12
Lacrosse	163/8	5,423	120	3,180/15
Skiing	102/0	924	95	763
Soccer	492/16	14,425	476	13,209/67
Softball	-	-	628	13,290
Swimming & Diving	248/18	4,968	262	5,794/35
Tennis	290/17	6,221	330	9,286/40
Track & Field	679/0	23,548	673	17,406
Volleyball	-	-	713	19,072
Wrestling	466/186	9,167	-	-/327

(A) The first number is the number of schools reporting sponsorship on the Sports Participation Survey, including primary and secondary schools in cooperative programs as of May 15, 2019. The second number indicates the number of schools that had girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys.

(B) The second number indicates the number of additional girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys and entered in boys competition.

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.

MHSAA News

Michigan High School Sports Participation Continues to Outpace National Population Ranking

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

December 5, 2025

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.

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