The data comes from the 50 state high school athletic associations, plus the District of Columbia, and shows that 7.6 million student-athletes participated in high school sports during the 2010-11 school year, an increase of 39,578 over 2009-10.
In all, 1,134,377 boys at 15,513 high schools played 11-, six-, eight- or nine-player football for their high schools in 2010-11. There also were nearly 6,000 girls who played tackle or flag football.
The next highest participation number for boys was outdoor track and field with 579,302, while basketball was third at 545, 844 for a total of 1,125,146.
Football continues to be the only sport with 1 million boys participating, which has been the case for the last decade.
Encompassing all high school sports, there was an increase of 91,000 participants in athletic programs for the 2010-11 school year over 2009-10. This marks the 22nd consecutive year that there has been an overall increase in student-athlete athletic participation in high schools, according to the NFHS.
"While the overall increase was not as much as we've seen in the past few years, we are definitely encouraged with these totals given the financial challenges facing our nation's high schools," Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director, said in a press release. "The benefits of education-based athletics at the high school level are well-documented, and we encourage communities throughout the nation to keep these doors of opportunity open.
“Based on the survey, 55.5 percent of students enrolled in high schools participate in athletics, which emphasizes and reinforces the idea that high school sports continue to have a significant role in student involvement in schools across the country."
Top high school sport participation for boys
Football........................1,134,377
Outdoor track and field...........579,302
Basketball........................545,844
Soccer............................398,351
Wrestling.........................273,732
Cross country.....................246,948
Tennis............................161,367
Golf..............................156,866
Swimming and diving...............133,900
