Michigan 7th on Nat'l Participation List
August 20, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the fifth straight year, Michigan ranked seventh nationally in high school sports participation, according to statistics for the 2012-13 school year released recently by the National Federation of State High School Associations. That level of participation continued to best Michigan’s national ranking for total number of residents of high school age, which fell one spot to ninth nationally in 2012.
Michigan’s participation ranking was based on a number of 304,438, with 130,009 girls and 174,429 boys taking part, and included sports in which the Michigan High School Athletic Association does not conduct postseason tournaments. The totals count students once for each sport in which he or she participates, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
Michigan girls participation remained seventh nationally for the second consecutive year, while the boys participation figure continued to rank sixth. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures from 2012, Michigan ranks ninth in both females and males ages 14 through 17 after ranking eighth in both in 2011.
Eight sports – including seven played by boys – moved up in their respective rankings, while seven sports moved down their lists. Total, Michigan ranked ninth or higher nationally in participation in 26 of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA conducts a postseason tournament (not counting separately 8-player football).
Basketball and boys swimming and diving led the improvement among boys sports, both moving up two spots – boys basketball to fourth-most participants nationally and swimming and diving up to seventh. Improving one position in national rank were boys bowling to second, boys cross country to eighth, boys ice hockey to third, boys lacrosse to seventh and boys soccer to eighth. Only one boys sport moved down in national rank – wrestling from fifth to sixth-most participants. Baseball (seventh), 11-player football (fifth), 8-player football (14th), boys golf (sixth), boys skiing (fourth), boys tennis (fifth) and boys track and field (sixth) held constant with 2011-12 rankings.
Girls cross country also jumped up two spots on its national ranking list, from seventh to fifth in 2012-13. However, six girls sports moved down their respective lists: girls basketball from sixth to seventh, girls golf from fifth to sixth, girls lacrosse from 12th to 13th, girls soccer from eighth to ninth, girls swimming and diving also eighth to ninth and girls tennis from third to fourth. Girls bowling (fourth), competitive cheer (fifth), gymnastics (12th), girls skiing (fourth), softball (seventh), girls track and field (seventh) and volleyball (fourth) repeated their 2011-12 national rankings.
National participation in high school sports in 2012-13 set a new record for the 24th consecutive year with 7,713,577 students – an increase of 21,057 – taking part. Girls participation also set a record for the 24th straight year, increasing this time 15,190 participants to 3,222,723 total. Boys participation bounced back from year’s first decrease in two decades, increasing by 5,867 participants from 2011-12 for a total of 4,490,854 – the second-highest total on record for boys national participation.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.
MHSAA Member Schools Continue Rebound in Sports Participation with 2022-23 Climb
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 14, 2023
Participation in Michigan High School Athletic Association-sponsored sports increased for the second-straight school year in 2022-23, continuing its recovery from a COVID-related decline and despite another decrease in school enrollment among the MHSAA’s 750 member high schools.
A total of 268,071 participants were counted across the 28 sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments – a 2.7-percent increase from 2021-22 as participation has grown a combined 9.9 percent from a drastic downturn in 2020-21 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2022-23 increase of 2.7 percent also came as enrollment at MHSAA member schools fell 3.2 percent from the previous year. More specifically, boys participation rose 3.4 percent to 156,501 participants, despite a 2.9-percent decrease in boys enrollment. Girls participation rose 1.7 percent to 111,570 participants despite a 3.4-percent enrollment dip. MHSAA participation totals count students once for each sport in which they participate, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
A total of 18 sports saw increases in participation in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22, with wrestling the largest gainer by 15.7 percent to 10,477 athletes – a rise in part attributable to a 41-percent increase in girls participation to 874 wrestlers which coincided with the second year of the MHSAA sponsoring a girls-only division at its Individual Finals. This year’s wrestling total was the sport’s highest since 2012-13.
Boys bowling enjoyed the next largest increase at 8.1 percent to 4,417 participants. Five more sports saw increases in participation by at least five percent over the previous school year – girls track & field (5.6 percent to 16,470 participants), boys lacrosse (5.6 percent to 5,038), girls lacrosse (5.3 percent to 3,215), girls bowling (5.3 percent to 2,826) and football (5.2 percent to 34,997).
Also enjoying increases in participation during the 2022-23 school year were boys track & field (up 4.9 percent from 2021-22), girls competitive cheer (3.5 percent), boys basketball (3.2), girls tennis (2.9), girls volleyball (2.5), girls skiing (2.0), girls basketball (1.4), boys golf (1.3), boys soccer (0.9), baseball (0.8) and girls soccer (0.3). Of the eight sports that did see declines in 2022-23, four experienced decreases in participation that were lower than the 3.2-percent decrease in enrollment at MHSAA member schools – boys ice hockey (-1.4 percent), boys cross country and boys tennis (both -0.9 percent) and softball (-0.7).
Football, with a combined 34,997 participants over the 11 and 8-player formats, remained the most-played sport during the 2022-23 school year in posting its highest total of athletes since 2018-19. Boys track & field (23,211) and boys basketball (20,663) were next for total participants, followed by girls volleyball (19,270) – which remained the most popular girls sport – and then baseball (16,663) and girls track & field (16,470).
For the second-straight year, girls skiing (854 athletes) posted its highest participation total since 1998-99. Boys golf (6,916) joined wrestling in posting its highest total since 2012-13, and girls volleyball enjoyed its highest participation since 2017-18. Boys track & field, girls track & field and baseball all posted their highest participation totals since 2018-19.
The participation figures are gathered annually from MHSAA member schools to submit to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) for compiling of its national participation survey. Results of Michigan surveys from the 2000-01 school year to present may be viewed on the MHSAA Website – www.mhsaa.com – by clicking on Schools > Administrators > Sports Participation Listing.
The following chart shows participation figures for the 2022-23 school year from MHSAA member schools for sports in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament:
|
BOYS |
|
GIRLS |
||
|
Sport |
Schools (A) |
Participants |
Schools (A) |
Participants (B) |
|
Baseball |
662/21 |
16,629 |
- |
-/34 |
|
Basketball |
730/1 |
20,662 |
721 |
13,788/1 |
|
Bowling |
422/14 |
4,393 |
415 |
2,826/24 |
|
Competitive Cheer |
- |
- |
352 |
5,942 |
|
Cross Country |
671/3 |
7,981 |
668 |
6,859/7 |
|
Football - 11 player |
526/108 |
32,280 |
- |
-/128 |
|
8-player |
127/13 |
2,575 |
- |
-/14 |
|
Golf |
547/57 |
6,809 |
384 |
3,708/107 |
|
Gymnastics |
- |
- |
106 |
562 |
|
Ice Hockey |
322/14 |
3,113 |
- |
-/16 |
|
Lacrosse |
183/15 |
5,015 |
127 |
3,215/23 |
|
Skiing |
125/2 |
923 |
124 |
854/3 |
|
Soccer |
480/15 |
13,221 |
485 |
11,863/58 |
|
Softball |
- |
- |
645 |
11,722 |
|
Swimming & Diving |
278/24 |
4,108 |
287 |
4,931/65 |
|
Tennis |
303/17 |
5,981 |
335 |
8,169/34 |
|
Track & Field |
694/2 |
23,208 |
692 |
16,470/3 |
|
Volleyball |
- |
- |
718 |
19,270 |
|
Wrestling |
497/288 |
9,603 |
/874 |
(A) The first number is the number of schools reporting sponsorship on the Sports Participation Survey, including primary and secondary schools in cooperative programs as of May 15, 2023. The second number indicates the number of schools that had girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys.
(B) The second number indicates the number of additional girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys and entered in boys competition.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.