Girls overall participation number reaches record high; boys number #2 all-time

The National Federation of State High School Associations recently released the athletics participation numbers for the 2006-07 school year. Once again both Cross Country and Outdoor Track and Field had increases. Over the six year period from 2001-02 to last year, Cross Country grew by 14.5% to 183,376 for girls and 13.1% to 216,085 for boys. The one-year increase from 2005-06 to 2006-07 was about 4% for each gender. For Outdoor Track and Field, the six-year increase was 6.9% to 444,181 for girls and 10.2% to 544,180 for boys, with a one-year increase of 1.1% for girls and 1.9% for boys.