Whether it’s sitting on the couch watching football on Sundays to the latest games being in restaurants on the big screen. Sports have always been a huge part of American culture.
Though, there have been a lot of other combinations mixed into the picture when it comes to what the most popular thing to do in people’s spare time is.
Technology has inflamed over the past decade. Death scrolling is the most recent curse of this generation.
Has this affected sports participation? Has it increased? Has it decreased?
According to NFHS’s statistics on the national high school sports participation, it depends on what sport you look at.
Let’s compare a three year span nationally to our Lakeland High School (LHS).
Nationally, since the school year 2022-2023 to today’s school year, 2025-2026, sports that have had a strong increase include track and field, softball, both girls and boys soccer, and volleyball. Additionally, wrestling, both girls and boys, has dramatically increased.
Some sports that have had a consistent participation rate include football, cross country, and baseball.
Basketball participation has stayed roughly the same for boys with a small increase, in contrast to girls basketball which has had a pretty significant decrease even though more schools have been added to the program in the past three years.
Taking these statistics into mind, has LHS been following these patterns?
For LHS, we have continued the same patterns for the most part.
In similarity to the national statistics, LHS has had an increase in both boys and girls wrestling, as well as a decrease in girls basketball.
Why is this?
In 2022-2023, wrestling had a total of 58 wrestlers. This year, 2025-2026 we have 56 boy wrestlers and 10 girl wrestlers. This may not seem like a big difference but for this particular sport, it is.
We have male senior wrestlers that have stayed with the sport, as well as girls.
“It teaches me how to work hard and persevere,” Senior wrestler Peyton Sardina said.
“I started my sophomore year and I feel it is a sport that makes you grow mentally and physically,” Senior wrestler Teagan Patrick said.
We also have more freshmen that are continuing to grow the program.
On the other side of the spectrum, our girls basketball is declining in participation.
There are many reasons. Personal preference to coaching, enjoyment, injuries. Lets see why some of our own Lady Hawks have decided to either stay with the program or move on to different paths.
Some girls decide to stay with the program because it makes them better and they enjoy it.
“I enjoy the sport over all and the family and friends I’ve made through it,” current Senior Varsity basketball player, Karstyn Kiefer said.
Others decide to let it go for other reasons and move on to different interests.
“I wanted to focus on other things like softball and I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I used to,” previous basketball player Katie Nave said.
“I wasn’t having fun anymore and it was just a lot,” Grace said, “I was consistently stressed if I was going to play or not.”
Girls basketball participation is declining. But why?
It is not just our school, it is nationally that this is happening.
NFHS reported in 2018-2019 high school sports participation declined for the first time in 30 years.
An approximated 400 out of 860 students at Lakeland high school participate in some type of sport
Volleyball went from 37 players in 2022-23 to 45 players in 2025-26
Football went from 93 in 2022-23 to 103 in 2025-26
Basketball boys was at 69 in 2022-23 and now is at 53 in 2025-26
Basketball girls had 49 in 2022-23 and now has 25 in 2025-26
Track and field had 101 participants in 2022-23 and now has an approximate 115 in 2025-26.
Cross country had 20 in 2022-23 and now has 37 in 2025–26.
Baseball had 53 in 2022-23 and now has an approximate 42 in 2025-26.
Girls soccer had 36 in 2022-23 and now has 34 in 2025-26.
Boys soccer had 31 in 2022-23 and now has 44 in 2025-26.
Softball had 36 in 2022-23 and now has an approximate 32 in 2025-26.
Taking a closer look at women’s basketball, the trend started particularly in that same year.
According to Fox 12 Oregon, women’s volleyball numbers increased by 25% and girls basketball declined by almost a third.
Some may say that the strategy of the game has changed.
More emphasis on personal scoring rather than team strategy.
Others may point out that if the competitiveness of the game is not built in the right environment then the environment can become less fun very quickly.
Sports are not always fun. They don’t always bring laughs and giggles. Sometimes it’s panting and feeling nauseous.
But on the other hand there are still some key components that a sport needs to keep growing as an athlete. It is just a matter if those certain needs are being fulfilled.
Wrestling had a total of 58 wrestlers in 2022-23 and now is standing at 66, 56 boys and 10 girls in 2025-26.
