Players compete at the AHSAA basketball finals in Birmingham. (The Bama Buzz)

The Alabama High School Athletic Association saw a 13.5% increase in total number of student-athletes during the 2025-26 academic year.

According to the NFHS High School Athletics Participation survey, Alabama had 195,769 athletes compete in an AHSAA-sponsored sport last year.

“The AHSAA remains committed to education-based interscholastic athletics that foster integrity, sportsmanship, safety, fair play and lifelong values. It’s rewarding to know more of Alabama’s young people are playing high school sports than ever before. We will continue to emphasize these core values and support the vibrant educational role high school athletics plays in so many Alabama communities.”
Heath Harmon, AHSAA Executive Director

The AHSAA has reported a total growth of more than 35% in the last five years. Here are the numbers from the NFHS report:

2025-26: 195,769
2024-25: 172,332
2021-22: 141,465

National high school sports participation grew for the fifth straight year to 8,415,684 participants, a new record.

Which sport had the highest participation?

4H4A4121 2 — Moody players attempt to block the game-winning field goal from Montgomery Catholic. (Caleb Turrentine / The Bama Buzz)

Football has always been king here in Alabama but somehow the numbers continue to grow on the high school field.

In Alabama, participation in football reached an all-time high of 39,739 players, up significantly after two years of declining participation. It beat the previous record of 37,692 from the 2022 season.

In addition, participation in girls flag football more than doubled from 1,596 participants during the 2024 season to 3,372 players in 2025.

Here’s how the survey broke down participation by sport in the AHSAA: