Key Takeaways
- Girls flag football reached 102,360 participation entries in 2025-26, a 48.7 percent single-year increase, and entered the top 10 girls sports for the first time
- The NFHS survey counted 8,415,684 total participation entries nationwide, up 149,440 from the prior year and a record for the fifth consecutive year
- Girls accounted for roughly 75 percent of national growth, adding 114,993 entries against a 0.8 percent gain on the boys side
- Girls basketball added 6,142 participants to halt a decline that had erased 100,000 participants over 20 years, per the NFHS
High school sports participation reached an all-time high for the fifth consecutive year in 2025-26, with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) reporting 8,415,684 participation entries across its 51 member state associations, an increase of 149,440 from the previous year. The growth story sits firmly on the girls side of the ledger: girls participation rose 114,993 entries, a 3.2 percent jump that accounted for roughly 75 percent of the national increase, according to the NFHS annual High School Athletics Participation Survey released August 27, 2026.
For operators, brands, and facility owners, the survey remains the most comprehensive annual read on where the education-based sports market is expanding, and this year’s data points to two sports in particular.
Girls Accounted for 75 Percent of National Growth
The topline split tells the story quickly. Boys participation reached 4,761,095 entries and girls reached 3,654,589, both record highs per the NFHS. But the growth rates diverged sharply: 3.2 percent for girls against 0.8 percent for boys.
Girls volleyball crossed 500,000 participants for the first time, finishing at 502,056 after adding another 9,257 entries, according to the survey. That total puts volleyball just 7,014 participants behind outdoor track and field (509,070) for the top spot among girls sports. Girls golf grew 6.3 percent to 90,176 participants.
The most notable reversal came in girls basketball. The sport added 6,142 participants to reach 362,382, halting a downward trend that the NFHS said had cost the sport 100,000 participants over the past 20 years.
How Big Is Girls Flag Football Now?
Girls flag football posted the most dramatic numbers in the survey. Participation grew 48.7 percent in a single year, from 68,847 to 102,360 entries, and the sport cracked the top 10 list of most popular girls sports for the first time, per the NFHS.
The four-year trajectory is steeper still. In the 2021-22 survey, the first conducted after the pandemic, girls flag football counted 15,716 participants nationally. The sport has added roughly 87,000 participants since, a more than sixfold increase in four survey cycles.
Supply is expanding alongside demand. The number of schools reporting girls flag football participation grew from 2,736 to 3,990 in the past year, according to the survey, and the NFHS said a total of 37 states will either sanction the sport or conduct independent or pilot programs by next year.
Girls Wrestling Reaches All 51 State Associations
Girls wrestling grew 19.9 percent year over year, from 74,064 to 88,771 participants, per the NFHS. The school sponsorship data shows how quickly the infrastructure has built out: 8,853 schools now sponsor girls wrestling, up from 4,802 in the first post-pandemic survey, while participation has climbed from 31,654 to 88,771 over the same period.
Two structural milestones stand out in the report. All 51 NFHS member state associations, which include the District of Columbia, now report some girls wrestling participation, and 40 state associations conduct state championships in the sport.
“We salute the coaches, athletic directors and school administrators for making these experiences happen, especially with some of the recent growth in several emerging sports,” said Davis Whitfield, NFHS executive director, in the announcement.
Football and Golf Led the Boys Gains
Five of the top 10 boys sports grew in 2025-26, per the NFHS: 11-player football, outdoor track and field, soccer, golf, and tennis.
Eleven-player football added 14,128 participants, a 1.4 percent increase, to reach 1,043,716, its highest total since 2016-17 and by a wide margin the most popular sport for boys or girls. Counting 6-, 8-, and 9-player formats plus 4,334 girls across all versions, total high school football participation reached 1,081,241, up 11,597 from the previous year, according to the survey.
Boys golf posted the largest percentage gain among boys sports at 8.3 percent, reaching 175,757 participants. Outdoor track and field added roughly 4,000 participants, while tennis and soccer each gained about 3,000.
At the state level, Texas (911,405) and California (859,022) again led participation totals by a wide margin, followed by Ohio (347,994), Illinois (326,756), Pennsylvania (315,647), New York (312,563), Florida (311,233), Michigan (295,634), New Jersey (273,711), and Minnesota (241,536), per the survey.
Participation Entries Are Not Unique Athletes
Two caveats matter for anyone building projections on this data. First, the survey counts participation entries rather than unique students, so a three-sport athlete registers three times. Second, the NFHS notes that reporting practices differ across state associations and that an increase may reflect both actual participation growth and more complete reporting. This year’s survey showed states reporting across more sports, which improves visibility into emerging activities but complicates clean year-to-year comparisons.
The survey has run since 1971, when it counted 3.6 million boys and 294,015 girls. Girls participation passed two million by the end of that decade following the 1972 passage of Title IX and now exceeds 3.6 million.
Two Sports, 37 States, and a 7,014-Participant Gap at the Top
The 2025-26 survey confirms that the growth engine in high school sports is concentrated in girls emerging sports, with flag football and wrestling combining for more than 191,000 participants where roughly 47,000 existed four years ago. The next survey cycle carries two measurable markers: whether girls flag football sustains its trajectory as sanctioning expands to 37 states, and whether volleyball closes the 7,014-participant gap separating it from outdoor track and field as the most popular girls sport in the country.
Source: National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), August 27, 2026, https://nfhs.org/resources/high-school-sports-participation
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How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
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Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
