Ohio Ranks Third Nationally for High School Sports Participation

COLUMBUS — Ohio recorded nearly 350,000 high school student-athletes during the 2025-26 school year, placing the state third nationally in overall participation.

The annual High School Athletics Participation Survey from the National Federation of State High School Associations counted 347,994 student-athletes in Ohio.

Only Texas, with 911,405 participants, and California, with 859,022, ranked higher. Ohio finished ahead of Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida and Michigan despite ranking seventh nationally in total population.

“We are very proud that Ohio is among the national leaders in high school sports participation,” OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute said.

Ute credited member schools and coaches with building programs that provide students with fun and educational opportunities.

Ohio now leads the nation in the number of schools sponsoring teams in three sports. The state has 525 schools with girls wrestling, 505 with girls bowling and 517 with boys bowling.

The continued growth of girls wrestling and girls flag football in Ohio and across the country helped push national high school sports participation to a record level.

Football remained Ohio’s most popular boys sport, with 40,302 participants. Track and field followed with 28,964 athletes, while baseball had 20,892, basketball had 20,246 and soccer had 17,540.

Competitive spirit and cheerleading led girls participation in Ohio with 26,635 students. Track and field had 23,739 participants, followed by volleyball with 19,867, soccer with 14,605, softball with 13,977 and basketball with 12,879.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association currently has 813 member schools.

The complete 2025-26 participation survey is available through the OHSAA website.