Tennis is still in the top 10 most popular sports for teens, according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations
Sports participation overall remains strong at the high school level, meaning builders of athletic fields, indoor facilities and more also have reason to be optimistic).
According to the National Federation for State High School Associations (NFHS) 2010-2011 High School Athletics Participation Summary, the number of students participating in sports continues to grow. In the academic year 2010-2011, a total of 7,667,955 students participated in at least one sport. (This is up by 39,578 from last year’s total which, in turn, was up 91,624 from the year before.)
In the academic year 2010-2011, a total of 7,667,955 students (4,494,406 boys and 3,173,549 girls) participated in high school sports. The 2009-2010 figures showed 7,628,377 students (4,455,740 boys and 3,172,637 girls). In 2008-2009, the numbers were 7,536,753 total students (4,422,662 boys and 3,114,091 girls).
The top 10 most popular sports for boys (in terms of numbers of athletes participating) are football, outdoor track and field, basketball, baseball, soccer, wrestling, cross-country, tennis (at number 8), golf and swimming/diving. For girls, the top 10 are outdoor track and field, basketball, volleyball, softball (fast-pitch), soccer, cross-country, tennis (at number 7), swimming/diving, competitive spirit squads and lacrosse. (Lacrosse is new to the top 10 this year).
Overall, the number of tennis programs in schools fell slightly (this year’s total was 19,570 schools, compared to last year’s total of 20,082 schools).
The numbers of students participating in team tennis also experienced a corresponding drop (58,725 boys and girls in academic year 2010-2011 as compared to 59,722 boys and girls in academic year 2009-2010). The overall number of girls participating in sports generally remained strong, particularly in tennis (where girls outnumbered boys 182,074 to 161,367).
NFHS also recognizes and reports on data collected on adapted sports (basketball, bowling, floor hockey, softball, soccer and track); these numbers reported gains in every discipline except floor hockey, where participation fell slightly. (Those who want to know why wheelchair tennis isn't included in those figures should note that according to the rules of wheelchair tennis, a player in a wheelchair can compete with an able-bodied player; the player in a wheelchair is allowed to have the ball bounce twice but otherwise the game is largely unchanged).
The survey breaks down data by states (and by sports within states), and also shows year by year changes in total participation numbers. The pdf of the NFHS report can be downloaded free of charge from www.nfhs.org (choose "participation data" from the menu on the left-hand side of the home page).
Source: National Federation of State High School Associations
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