HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS IN AMERICA By Jeff Pesek

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.

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.