In the 2017-18 school year, student participation in high school sports reached an all-time high of 7,980,886 students. The following school year, the number of participants declined by 43,395 students, according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). This was the first nationwide decline in almost 30 years, and this downward trend has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. The number of participants dropped by 319,437 students after the COVID restrictions were lifted within the 2021-22 school year, totaling only 7,618,054 student participants that year. While the numbers have steadily increased over the past few years, student interest still needs to improve in many aspects.
Toni Fischer, a Stoughton High School social studies teacher, student senate adviser, and previous SHS sports coach, has also noticed the shift.
“Especially since COVID, many of our students are finding it more difficult to be social and interact with other people in a more social environment. And I think that [COVID] has also led to less involvement, whether it be in athletics activities and being a member of those, as well as just going and observing,” Fischer said.
COVID was and continues to be a significant factor in student engagement, with many students hanging on to habits created during lockdown.
Despite this, Fischer noticed the shift about nine years ago when SHS’s freshmen sports teams started disappearing.
“When I started teaching here 25 years ago, most of our sports had three teams. We had the JV, we had the varsity, and then we [had] a freshmen team, [but] about nine years ago, we started to see that the freshmen level was disappearing because we weren’t having as many students involved in extracurriculars,” Fischer said.
The lack of freshman participation could have been due to the rise of social media within those years, or it could have been the broader range of extracurriculars offered at SHS or any number of other reasons. Still, a shift was felt within the schools’ environment as student engagement declined.
“When I started here, there was a lot more unity among students at the school. Yes, you still had your different cliques and groups and things like that, but there was a lot more overlap in them, and people supported one another,” Fischer said.
The solidarity felt by student participation is one of the many historical impacts of sports in American high schools. Rooting for one team as a collective brought together students from all walks of life, but the loss of student interest has made it increasingly difficult for staff and students to build a community.
While sports have often been an essential part of the high school experience, an SHS senior, Helena King, believes our schools should advertise the options available better.
“I think a big reason I never joined sports is because I was never really exposed to [any] besides football and boy soccer,” King said.
America has a reputation for only caring about a select few of our schools’ sports. This reputation is upheld not only by budgeting but also by our media.
“Even in the media, the only sports we show kids playing in high school are football and sometimes basketball. I think it would have been cool if other sports were more advertised so kids would know they’d be an option,” King said.
The push to place football and basketball at the forefront of the American high school sports image may be its downfall. Many kids feel intimidated by the hyper-competitiveness often felt when participating in these sports and might forgo joining one entirely. Advertising the less competitive sports could help students feel more comfortable joining one. The more students become comfortable with joining a sport, the easier it will become to build the community SHS lacks.
Students and teachers agree that sports are an important part of our school spirit and our community, including student-athlete Gretchen Tangeman.
“[Sports are] important because they introduce you to new people, keep you active and healthy, and even if you don’t love the sport, it is a good social outing,” Tangeman said.