Takedown Report

North Carolina HSAA participation rises in almost every sport, surpasses 200,000 total student-athletes

The number of athletes competing in the NCHSAA last school year was the third-highest in the association’s more than 100-year history.
For the first time since the 2017-2018 school year, the N.C. High School Athletic Association saw more than 200,000 student-athletes compete in sports last school year.
The NCHSAA released its participation data from the 2023-2024 school year on Monday morning, and it shows a significant amount of growth overall and in most sports year-over-year.
The data, which is reported to the NCHSAA by its member schools each year, shows 208,722 student-athletes competed last school year. That is up from 198,025 during the 2022-2023 school year, and is the highest figure since the 2013-2014 school year when 214,046 student-athletes were participating in high school sports in North Carolina. In fact, the number of athletes competing in the NCHSAA last school year was the third-highest in the association’s more than 100-year history.
Every single sport saw growth in participation last school year with one exception: baseball. Despite five additional schools offering the sport in the spring, there was a decline of 153 student-athletes playing baseball — down from 10,727 in 2023 to 10,574 in 2024. A total of 414 schools played baseball this spring. …
Boys soccer also saw a large increase in participation, adding 1,100 new players and five new schools in the fall. There are now 407 schools offering boys soccer and 12,916 athletes participating in the sport. Comparing numbers for wrestling year-over-year is not exactly comparing apples to apples. For the first time, the NCHSAA separated boys and girls wrestling participation data in the 2023-2024 school year as girls wrestling became a sanctioned sport.
However, in the 2022-2023 school year, the NCHSAA reported 9,988 athletes participating in wrestling across the state. This past winter, there were a total of 11,317 wrestlers participating — an increase of 1,329 wrestlers. According to the NCHSAA data, there were 9,885 boys wrestlers and 1,432 girls wrestlers. There were a total of 436 member schools in the NCHSAA during the 2023-2024 school year. Of all sports, boys basketball was played at more member schools than any other sport. There were 434 boys basketball teams in the NCHSAA. Volleyball was next with 432 schools fielding a team. …
Boys Wrestling: 9,885 participants, 342 schools
Data for wrestling was not separated between boys/girls in 2022-2023
Girls Wrestling: 1,432 participants, 248 schools
Data for wrestling was not separated between boys/girls in 2022-2023 … more at … https://www.highschoolot.com/story/nchsaa-participation-rises-in-almost-every-sport-surpasses-200-000-total-student-athletes/21535731/

July 24, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized