High school sports participation in America reached an all-time high during the 2012-2013 school year with over 7.7 million students playing sports, including over 3.2 million girls and 4.5 million boys. For girls, outdoor track and field was the most popular sport with over 472,000 participants, more than outdoor basketball. For boys, American football continued to attract the most participants with over 1 million players, followed by track and field, then basketball, with baseball and soccer also in the top five most popular boys' sports.

1. HIGH SCHOOL
SPORTS IN AMERICA
By Jeff Pesek

2. Introduction
 Jeff Pesek serves J. Sterling Morton High School
District 201 as president of the board of education.
When not overseeing personnel and policy changes
throughout the district, Jeff Pesek supports the school
system by attending soccer, football, and basketball
games.
Participation in high school sports by American
students reached an all-time high during the 2012-
2013 school year, with more than 7.7 million
individuals playing sports. These students included
over 3.2 million girls and approximately 4.5 million
boys. For girls, outdoor track and field ranked as the
most popular sport: about 472,939 female students
engaged in track and field activities, compared to
433,120 female basketball players.

3. High School Sports
 Basketball had topped the list in years past and
continued to lead sports such as volleyball and
soccer.
American football continued to attract more high
school boys than any other sport. During the
2006-2007 school year, roughly 1.1 million
students played football. This number dropped
slightly, to 1.08 million, in 2012-2013, but still
almost doubled the 580,672 track and field
participants. As with female athletes, track and
field overtook basketball as the second most
popular sport, with basketball falling to third.
Baseball and soccer rounded out the top five
sports for boys.