By David Rogers. RALEIGH, N.C. — Not surprising given the number of athletes on a team and the popularity of the sport, Football headed the list of high school sports for the number of participants in North Carolina’s 2023-24 academic year, according to data obtained from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
The NCHSAA reported that 29,075 student athletes competed in football during the most recently completed academic year, up from 27,809 in 2022-23, an 0.26% increase. The participants were spread among 383 high schools in 2023-24, one more than in the previous year.
Men’s Track (15,932 participants/409 schools), Men’s Soccer (12,916/407), Men’s Basketball (11,409/434) and Women’s Track (11,409/409) rounded out the top five high school sports in North Carolina with the highest participation.
New to the lineup of athletic opportunities in North Carolina high schools in 2023-24 was Women’s Wrestling, offered in its first year by 248 schools with 1,432 participants.
The highest rate of growth for the number of students participating in a sport was in the Spirit squads, cheerleaders and dance teams, which saw a 20.15 percent increase as the number of schools offering the opportunities increased from 354 to 414.
Women’s Indoor Track (5,912/306) realized a 16.47 percent increase, followed by Men’s Indoor Track (7,331/304) with a 12.82 percent increase, Women’s Golf (1,573/282) at 12.04 percent growth, Men’s Cross Country (5,821/395) with 9.60 percent growth, and Men’s Soccer (12,916/407) at 9.31 percent.
Of the 26 athletic endeavors offered by North Carolina high schools, only Baseball saw a decline in participants, -1.43 percent, while Men’s Track and Women’s Lacrosse were almost flat for the year.
In addition to general population growth as well as social and cultural trends promoting physical fitness, the participation numbers are largely influenced by the number of schools offering a particular sport.
The largest number of schools offering an individual sport was in Men’s Basketball, offered by 434 North Carolina high schools, closely followed by (Women’s) Volleyball (432). Rounding out the top five in terms of the number of schools offering a sport were Women’s Basketball (429), Spirit squads (414) and Baseball (414).
In total, North Carolina high schools saw 208,722 students participating in NCHSAA sanctioned athletics during the 2023-24 academic year, a 5.40 percent increase over the prior academic year. Winter sports experienced the highest growth rate, at 9.30 percent.
