SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – High school sports participation remains optimistic since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education-based athletics during the final months of the 2019-20 school year. Though the overall 2021-22 reported participation numbers have declined from previous years, the 2022-23 school year appears promising as the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) looks for a continued increase in participation in the coming years. Down by 7.6% since the 2019-20 survey, 763,606 student-athletes were competing in education-based athletic programs in California during the 2021-22 school year.
Contributing to the overall participation decline was a decrease in sub-varsity opportunities, including a reduction of 7.8% coaches during the 2021-22 school year, as well as a noticeable drop in individual sports participants (cross country, swimming & diving, track & field). Additionally, with 12% of schools not submitting data for the 2021-22 school year the CIF is hopeful with the immediate implementation of a proposed CIF Bylaw requiring schools to submit their data participation numbers will reflect a more accurate representation of student-athlete participation moving forward.
“We are excited for a full return to education-based athletics during the 2022-23 school year,” states CIF Executive Director Ron Nocetti. “The CIF looks forward to resuming the growth of education-based athletics as our member schools continue a return to normalcy. Additionally, we remain focused on our goals of expanding participation opportunities for girls as well as providing additional opportunities for all students at our member schools.”
Football (11-player) continues to lead the top 10 boys’ sports with 84,626 participants. Soccer (53,677) is the second most popular sport, followed by track & field (48,452), basketball (47,091), and baseball (44,179).
For girls, soccer continues as the top sport with 47,044 participants. Volleyball came in second (45,534), followed by track & field with 38,399 participants. Softball (30,338) and basketball (30,142) rounded out the top five girls’ sports. Additionally, traditional competitive cheer saw a notable 13.2% increase (11,233), taking over the 10th most popular sport for girls.
The CIF’s 1,609-member schools participated in the survey as part of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) nationwide survey that measures the number of students competing in sports in the country.
A chart indicating results from the last nine participation surveys follows. Only CIF-approved sports are listed individually. Also, a summary of the top 10 sports by gender, based on participation numbers.
2021-22 Participation Census Complete Release