Boys HS sports participation up, girls down in Oklahoma

BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com

While participation in high school sports among girls grew nationally, girls participation in Oklahoma took a dip during the 2011-12 school year, according to an annual participation study released Thursday.

The High School Athletics Participation Survey is conducted annually by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Nationally, overall participation grew for the 23rd consecutive year, thanks to the growth in girls participants.

More than 33,984 more girls participated in 2011-12 than in 2010-11, according to the survey.

Overall boys participation dipped for the first time since 1992-93, dropping 9,419 to 4,484,987.

In Oklahoma, girls participation dropped from 44,112 a year ago to 42,664 this year.
Boys participation here rose from 42,694 to 44,284 during the time, for an overall growth to 86,948.

Here’s a look at individual sports with the number of schools participating last school year followed by the number of athletes. The 2010-11 numbers are in parentheses:

Girls
Basketball: 481-7,215 (475-7,125)
Competitive spirit squad: 200-4,000 (180-3,900)
Cross country: 275-2,800 (275-2,800)
Golf: 218-1,289 (218-1,265)
Soccer: 114-2,975 (114, 2,500)
Softball, slowpitch: 300-6,560 (300-6,560)
Softball, fastpitch: 450-10.450 (450-10,450)
Swimming and diving: 43-425 (43-500)
Tennis: 114-770 (114-912)
Track and field, outdoor: 369-3,276 (369-5,800)
Volleyball: 121-2,904 (121-2,300)