Sports

Learn more about student sports in and out of schools, including how athletics affect students’ health, well-being, and academic achievement

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Sports balls overlayed with data charts.
Statistics on School Sports: How Many Students Play Sports? Which Sports Do They Play?
Browse key data on school sports, including how often girls and boys are participating and which ones they are choosing to play.
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Students play basketball at Parkway Sports & Health Science Academy on Feb. 21, 2025 in La Mesa, Calif.
Students playing basketball at Parkway Sports & Health Science Academy on Feb. 21, 2025, in La Mesa, Calif. Some schools are using sports as a way to help students develop social-emotional skills.
Ariana Drehsler for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Want Kids to Have Better SEL Skills? Try Using Sports
In a panel discussion, district leaders and an expert discuss why sports is a great place to learn life skills.
Lauraine Langreo, February 19, 2026
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3 min read
Dr. April Brooks, the director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools, (center) watches a boy’s varsity basketball game at Jeffersontown High School in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, January 9, 2026.
Dr. April Brooks, director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools (center), watches a boys’ varsity basketball game at Jeffersontown High School in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 9, 2026.
Madeleine Hordinski for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Leader To Learn From Meet the ‘Sports Lady’ Reenergizing Her District's Athletics
This athletics leader is working to reverse post-pandemic declines, especially for girls.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 9, 2026
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11 min read
Dr. April Brooks, the director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools, leads a clinic at Medora Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, January 9, 2026.
Dr. April Brooks, director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools, leads a clinic at Medora Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 9, 2026.
Madeleine Hordinski for Education Week
Families & the Community Q&A Youth Sports Can Turn Toxic. This District Focuses on Prevention
As sideline behavior worsens, athletic leaders focus on prevention, safety, and resetting expectations.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 9, 2026
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4 min read
Students celebrate at the end of basketball club at Adams Elementary School on Dec. 5, 2025.
Students celebrate at the end of basketball club at Adams Elementary School on Dec. 5, 2025. The Spokane district has significantly invested in extracurriculars to help limit students' screen time, and their elementary schools are no exception.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement ‘Great Lifelong Habits’: How This District Is Keeping Young Kids Off Screens
Can a massive expansion of extracurricular activities help build social-emotional skills in early grades?
Alyson Klein, January 26, 2026
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6 min read
Becky Pepper-Jackson holds hands with her mother Heather Jackson outside the Supreme Court after arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
Becky Pepper-Jackson holds hands with her mother, Heather Jackson, outside the U.S. Supreme Court after arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on female athletic teams on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Signals Support for State Bans on Trans Girls in Sports
The U.S. Supreme Court weighed Idaho and West Virginia laws that bar transgender girls from sports.
Mark Walsh, January 13, 2026
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7 min read
Fifteen year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia.
Fifteen-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia. Her challenge to the state’s ban on transgender girls in school sports is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Scout Tufankjian/ACLU
Law & Courts School Sports Case Reaches the Supreme Court at a Fraught Time for Trans Rights
The justices will consider state laws that bar transgender girls from participating in female sports.
Mark Walsh, January 9, 2026
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8 min read
Students on Northwood High School’s pickleball team warm up ahead of a match against Wheaton High School in Wheaton, Md., on Oct. 1, 2025.
Students on Northwood High School’s pickleball team warm up ahead of a match against Wheaton High School in Wheaton, Md., on Oct. 1, 2025.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Video How One District Made Pickleball an Inclusive Varsity Sport
Kids with IEP and 504 plans play alongside their peers on one district's varsity pickleball team.
Jaclyn Borowski & Yi-Jo Shen, October 31, 2025
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2:07
AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025.
AB Hernandez, a transgender female student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track and field championships in Clovis, Calif., on May 31. The U.S. Supreme Court in its new term will consider state laws that prohibit transgender girls and women from competing in female athletics.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Law & Courts New Supreme Court Term Puts Transgender Student Rights in the Spotlight
The justices will weigh state laws that bar transgender girls from female athletics, amid other issues of interest to educators in new term
Mark Walsh, October 2, 2025
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8 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Video The Top Priority for This District’s First Female Athletic Director
Protecting student-athletes from heat-related injuries and illnesses is the top priority for this district's first female athletic director.
Yi-Jo Shen & Kaylee Domzalski, September 18, 2025
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1:53
Addison's Ava Bartlett attacks during Class 1A play in the AHSAA North Super Regional volleyball tournament at the Finley Center in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 24, 2024.
Student-athletes participate in a volleyball tournament in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 24, 2024. The Trump administration has withdrawn a proposal to change a Title IX regulation related to noncontact sports through the U.S. Department of Energy.
Vasha Hunt/AL.com via TNS
Federal Trump Admin. Drops Bid to Change a Title IX Rule Through Energy Dept.
The administration has used multiple agencies to enforce its view of the sex-discrimination law.
Matthew Stone, September 15, 2025
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3 min read
Junior Ryan Edson takes a drink of water during a morning football practice at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 2, 2025.
Junior Ryan Edson takes a drink of water during a morning football practice at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 2, 2025.
Noah Devereaux for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Download Student Safety: Everything You Need to Know About Heat Stroke
As summer heat waves stretch later into fall—and with higher temperatures arriving earlier in spring—protecting student-athletes from heat-related illnesses has become a year-round concern.
Laura Baker, Vanessa Solis & Gina Tomko, September 15, 2025
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1 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Video One Small Change Helped This Football Team Prevent Heat Injuries
Dehydration and heat stroke are serious concerns for high schools and their athletics programs.
CJ Riculan, September 11, 2025
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2:26
Senior Joaquin Garcia takes a drink of water on the sideline during a morning football practice at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 2, 2025.
Senior Joaquin Garcia takes a drink of water on the sideline during a morning football practice at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 2, 2025.
Noah Devereaux for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Heat Illness Is Preventable Even on a Budget, Experts Say
Building awareness of risk is a critically important strategy for under-resourced school districts.
Jennifer Vilcarino, September 5, 2025
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5 min read
Football players gather around a coach during practice at Heard County High School in Franklin, Ga., on Aug. 27, 2025.
Football players gather around a coach during practice at Heard County High School in Franklin, Ga., on Aug. 27, 2025.
Lynsey Weatherspoon for Education Week
School Climate & Safety ‘We Can Save Other Athletes’: How One State Is Fighting Heat-Related Deaths
The state has encouraged schools to modify their practices and monitoring during tough conditions.
Jennifer Vilcarino, September 5, 2025
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5 min read
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