Survey from CIF state office indicates which are the most popular high school sports

High school sports participation is back up throughout the state after the coronavirus pandemic resulted in suspension of sports during the final months of the 2019-20 school year, officials with the CIF State Office reported this week.

Participation numbers are up by 1.4 percent since the 2021-22 survey, with 763,867 student-athletes competing in education-based athletic programs in California during the 2022-23 school year, according to the survey.

“It’s encouraging to see steady participation after a challenging past few years,” said CIF
Executive Director Ron Nocetti. “As we move forward, the CIF looks to continue to expand and
provide students with the opportunity to belong, connect and compete in education-based experiences.”

The survey showed that football (11-player) continues to lead the top 10 boys’ sports and increased by 5.4 percent with 89,178 participants. Soccer (53,368) is the second most popular sport, followed by track and field (52,164), basketball (45,836), and baseball (43,367).

On the girls side, soccer continues to be the top sport with 45,544 participants.

Volleyball came in second (45,390), followed by track and field with 40,434 participants, a 5.3 percent increase.

Softball (29,483) and basketball (29,007) rounded out the top five girls’ sports, according to the survey.

In addition, for the second consecutive year, traditional competitive cheer had a notable 16.8 percent increase (13,119), taking over the ninth most popular sport for girls.

The CIF’s 1,609-member schools took part in the survey as part of the National Federation of
State High School Association’s nationwide survey that measures the number of students competing in sports in the country, according to CIF State officials.