The North Carolina High School Athletic Association reported a 4.73 percent increase in overall student athlete participation during the 2023-24 season, per a release sent out Monday.
Based on the information reported to the NCHSAA by its member schools, a total of 208,722 student athletes participated in NCHSAA sanctioned sports last year which is over 10,000 more student athletes than the 2022-23 sports season (198,025 athletes).
Every sport, except for baseball, saw an increase in participation.
Although the five new baseball programs were added to the NCHSAA, the sport saw 153 less players (a 1.4% drop) participate in 2024.
Many of the reported increases were helped by the addition of schools and programs across the state. The NCHSAA added four member schools from 2022-23 (432 schools) to 2023-24 (436 schools).
Winter Spirit saw the largest increase in reported participation. There were 60 more reported Winter Spirit teams in the 2023-24 season, creating an increase of 1,628 athletes.
Boys’ and girls’ indoor track were also significantly affected by the addition of new programs as 21 schools added girls’ teams and 14 schools added boys’ teams. Boys’ indoor track saw a nearly 13% participation increase from the 2022-23 season while the girls saw a 16% increase.
Boys’ golf and boys’ lacrosse also saw increases of 7% and 6%, respectively.
Wrestling saw an increase in participation, too, as 11,317 boys and girls wrestled in the 2023-24 season compared to 9,988 in 2022-23.
In the first year of girls’ wrestling being a sanctioned sport, 248 schools fielded a girls’ wrestling program with a total of 1,432 girls participating.
Here’s the full breakdown of the participation numbers across the two school years:
Fall Sports
Football: 29,075 athletes in 2023-24 (383 schools); 27,809 athletes in 2022-23 (382)
Boys’ cross country: 5,821 athletes in 2023-24 (395); 5,311 athletes in 2022-23 (385)
Boys’ soccer: 12,916 athletes in 2023-24 (407); 11,816 athletes in 2022-23 (402)
Spirit: 9,776 athletes in 2023-24 (386); 9,568 athletes in 2022-23 (386)
Volleyball: 10,303 athletes in 2023-24 (432); 9,779 athletes in 2022-23 (427)
Girls’ cross country: 4,279 athletes in 2023-24 (382); 4,084 athletes in 2022-23 (377)
Girls’ golf: 1,573 athletes in 2023-24 (282); 1,404 athletes in 2022-23 (270)
Girls’ tennis: 4,318 athletes in 2023-24 (340); 4,006 athletes in 2022-23 (337)
Total fall sports: 78,061 athletes in 2023-24; 73,777 athletes in 2022-23
Winter Sports
Boys’ basketball: 11,409 athletes in 2023-24 (434); 11,243 athletes in 2022-23 (431)
Boys’ indoor track: 7,331 athletes in 2023-24 (304); 6,498 athletes in 2022-23 (290)
Boys’ swimming: 3,338 athletes in 2023-24 (305); 3,303 athletes in 2022-23 (300)
Boys’ wrestling: 9,885 athletes in 2023-24 (342)
Spirit: 9,709 athletes in 2023-24 (414); 8,081 athletes in 2022-23 (354)
Girls’ basketball: 7,663 athletes in 2023-24 (429); 7,470 athletes in 2022-23 (425)
Girls’ indoor track: 5,912 athletes in 2023-24 (306); 5,076 athletes in 2022-23 (285)
Girls’ swimming: 4,487 athletes in 2023-24 (306); 4,305 athletes in 2022-23 (304)
Girls’ wrestling: 1,432 athletes in 2023-24 (248)
Wrestling (boys and girls): 9,988 athletes in 2022-23 (346)
Total winter sports: 61,166 athletes in 2023-24; 55,964 athletes in 2022-23
Spring Sports
Baseball: 10,574 athletes in 2023-24 (414); 10,727 athletes in 2022-23 (409)
Boys’ golf: 3,278 athletes in 2023-24 (371); 3,062 athletes in 2022-23 (371)
Boys’ lacrosse: 4,219 athletes in 2023-24 (121); 3,976 athletes in 2022-23 (118)
Boys’ tennis: 3,833 athletes in 2023-24 (319); 3,750 athletes in 2022-23 (314)
Boys’ track: 15,932 athletes in 2023-24 (408); 15,911 athletes in 2022-23 (408)
Softball: 7,017 athletes in 2023-24 (402); 6,912 athletes in 2022-23 (398)
Girls’ lacrosse: 2,726 athletes in 2023-24 (101); 2,700 athletes in 2022-23 (99)
Girls’ soccer: 10,507 athletes in 2023-24 (396); 10,164 athletes in 2022-23 (389)
Girls’ track: 11,409 athletes in 2023-24 (409); 11,082 athletes in 2022-23 (409)
Total spring sports: 69,495 athletes in 2023-24; 68,284 athletes in 2022-23