Numbers Down in Sports Participation Nationally and in South Dakota

KANSAS CITY – Participation both nationally and in South Dakota in high school athletics was down for the first time in 30 years, the National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFHS, reported on Monday. A total of 7,937,491 participants were reported during the 2018-19 school year, down 43,395 from the 2017-18 survey and a decrease of 0.54 percent. There were 29,718 participants in South Dakota High School Activities Association sports in 2018-19, down 0.29 percent from the 29,790 participants reported in the 2017-18 school year. Boys participation was up 1.42 percent from 16,404 participants in 2017-18 to 16,638 in 2018-19, while girls participation decreased by 2.28 percent from 13,386 participants in 2017-18 to 13,080 in 2018-19. Nationally, the biggest contributors to the decline were football and basketball. Participants in 11-man football were down by more than 30,000 to a little more than 1 million players, the lowest mark in 19 years. In South Dakota, football participation across nine-man and 11-man classes dropped by 1.21 percent, with just more than 5,000 total players. Girls basketball had the most serious drop in participation by 7.11 percent, down from 2,820 players in 2017-18 to 2,612 participants last season. Volleyball, boys basketball and boys golf all experienced decreases between 2 to 4 percent, while track and field and cross country were down about 1.5 percent in participation. Sports to see increases in participation were boys tennis (5.48 percent), girls tennis (12.9 percent), girls soccer (8.84 percent) and girls golf (7.29 percent).