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Over time, the numbers go up and the numbers go down. That’s the nature of the games.
For participation numbers in Hawaii High School Athletic Association sports, there was a 9% decrease from 2018-19 to 2021-22, according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Much of that decline can be attributed to the social distancing and other safety measures put in place due to COVID-19.
Nati0nwide, there was a 4% decrease in that same time period.
In Hawaii in 2021-22, 32,881 Hawaii students played high school sports, compared to 36,302 in in 2018-19.
That 32,881 figure was the lowest since 2002-03, when 32,216 high schoolers took part in sports. The highest participation number Hawaii has recorded was in 2009-10 — 37,867.
Hawaii ranks 41st nationally out of 51 state associations in participation numbers.
Some of the other national data follows:
>> There were 7,618,054 high school athletes in 2021-22, compared to 7,937,491 in 2018-19
>> The 2021-22 total is comprised of 4,376,582 boys and 3,241,472 girls
>> There was a 39% in increase in girls playing one of the four versions of football (11-person, 9, 8 and 6) during those three years — 3,633, up from 2,604; and girls playing flag football increased from 11,209 to 15,716
>> Texas topped the list of state participation in the latest survey — 846,161; Others in the top 10 are: California (762, 823), Ohio (378,354), Pennsylvania (315,097), Illinois (314,839), New York (313,404), Florida (291,504), Michigan (271,423), New Jersey (264,139) and Massachusetts (215,848)
A partial report of the NFHS’s participation survey can be found by clicking here.
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ALSO AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
Kahuku Linebacker Leonard Ah You: ‘On That Last Drive, They Shouldn’t Have Scored’
Updated standings, the Power 5s, all of the season’s scores, master schedule and all of Bedrock’s previous 2022 high school football stories:
