What are the most popular high school sports in Maryland?

It’s probably no surprise that football takes the top spot for boys and soccer is No. 1 among girls.

According to the latest participation figures announced Tuesday by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), more students are playing high school sports than ever before – and that’s true in Maryland too.

In Maryland, there were 111,102 high school athletes during the last school year, up from 111,016 the previous year, according to the NFHS survey.

For boys in Maryland, football had 64,704 participants followed by track and field, lacrosse, soccer, baseball and basketball. For girls, soccer reigned followed by softball, track and field, lacrosse, volleyball and basketball.

In data collected from membership schools in all 50 states and Washington D.C. for the 2008-09 High School Athletics Participation Survey, more than 7.5 million students participated in high school athletics across the country during the 2008-2009 school year. That marks the 20th straight year in which participation has grown for boys and for girls.

“Given the state of the economy, this year’s survey makes a great statement about the interest in high school sports in our nation’s schools,” said Robert F. Kanaby, NFHS Executive Director, in a news release. “The record participation levels for boys and girls reflect the fact that participation in high school sports is of great value to our nation’s young people.”

According to the survey, 55.2 percent of students across the nation played on a high school team in 2008-2009.