Raleigh, North Carolina — Participation in high school sports in North Carolina has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, according to data released Thursday by the National Federation of High School Associations.
Overall participation in North Carolina decreased 9.1% in the 2021-2022 school year compared to the 2018-2019 school year. This is the last time the NFHS released participation data for his COVID-19 pandemic. North Carolina’s total attendance fell from 198,252 to 180,255.
Both men’s and women’s sports are on a downward trend, but the decline in women’s sports was the largest. The number of girls participating in high school sports in North Carolina has fallen 12.5% since 2018, down from her 87,541 in 2019 to her 76,612 last year. Male participants decreased from her 110,711 to her 103,643, a decrease of 6.4%.
North Carolina ranked 12th nationally for total high school sports attendance in 2018-2019, but the state fell to 13th place as Georgia jumped to 12th place.
The NFHS has yet to release sport-specific data for individual states, but indicates that information will be released soon.
Nationally, high school sports participation declined by 4% from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022. Nationally, male participation declined by 3.5% and female participation by 4.7%. Participation in both men’s and women’s sports declined sharply in North Carolina compared to national figures.
The NFHS considers the numbers overall encouraging despite the decline.
NFHS CEO Dr. Carissa Niehoff said: “Some states that were able to complete the survey in 2020-2021 reported increased participation in the past year. As we move forward, we are very optimistic that this trend will continue.”
HighSchoolOT has reached out to the NC High School Athletic Association for comment.
Soccer participation continues to decline
North Carolina’s soccer participation data has not yet been released, but the NFHS has released national data.
11 soccer participants fell 3.2%, falling below 1 million nationwide. The number of schools offering 11-a-side football also fell by 3.6%, from 14,247 in 2018-2019 to 13,733 in 2021-22, down 514.
However, the NFHS points to increased participation in other forms of football as reasons for optimism. The number of schools offering 6-a-side, 8-a-side or 9-a-side football increased from 1,563 to 1,790, an increase of 12.7%.
Women’s participation in 6-a-side, 8-a-side, 9-a-side and 11-a-side football also increased from 2,604 to 3,633 last year, an increase of 39.5%. Girls flag football attendance also increased from 11,209 to 15,716, a 40.9% increase.
The NFHS called the football participation data “encouraging” despite the drop of 11 football participants.
“Certainly, football numbers are promising after our last report from the 2018-19 season,” Niehoff said. It continues to be attractive and the growth of girls flag football continues to take hold in more parts of the country.”
Attendance decreased by 2.1% from 1,051,047 to 1,028,976 across all forms of football, including both men’s and women’s.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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