Sports

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

Infographic

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.
View Infographic
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
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
•
5 min read
Third graders Elizabeth Porter, left, and Tilia Thomsen take turns counting sit up reps during P.E. class at Vergennes Union Elementary School in Vergennes, Vt., on Nov. 18, 2024.
Third graders Elizabeth Porter, left, and Tilia Thomsen take turns counting sit up reps during P.E. class at Vergennes Union Elementary School in Vergennes, Vt., on Nov. 18, 2024.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Trauma or Motivation? Educators Reflect on the Presidential Fitness Test's Return
The return of the Presidential Fitness Test sparks memories of shame, fun, and the thrill of victory for educators who did it as children.
Evie Blad, August 7, 2025
•
2 min read
President Donald Trump hands a pen to professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau after Trump signed an executive order restarting the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools as Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, from left, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Vice President JD Vance watch, July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington.
President Donald Trump hands a pen to professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau after Trump signed an executive order restarting the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools as Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Vice President JD Vance watch on July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Federal Trump Revives the Presidential Fitness Test. Will It Look the Same?
A new generation of students could be tested on how fast they run the mile and how many pushups they can do.
Brooke Schultz, August 7, 2025
•
6 min read
This artist sketch depicts Justice Amy Coney Barrett, from left, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Justices announce opinions at the Supreme Court in Washington, on June 27, 2025.
An artist sketch depicting Justice Amy Coney Barrett, from left, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Justices announce opinions at the Supreme Court in Washington, on June 27, 2025. The Supreme Court on July 3, 2025, announced it will hear cases challenging Idaho and West Virginia laws that bar transgender students from participating in girls’ or women’s school sports, stepping into a high-profile legal battle over transgender rights in schools.
Dana Verkouteren via AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court to Weigh State Laws Barring Transgender Athletes in Girls' Sports
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up transgender sports laws from Idaho and West Virginia, among the 27 states that have such laws.
Mark Walsh, July 3, 2025
•
5 min read
Runners take off from the starting line for the 2A girls championship cross country race on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Runners take off from the starting line for the 2A girls championship cross-country race on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Trump administration is proposing a change to a school athletics rule under Title IX, but doing it through the U.S. Department of Energy rather than the Department of Education.
Parker Seibold/The Gazette via AP
Federal The U.S. Department of Energy Is Trying to Change a Title IX Rule. Why?
Proposals from the U.S. Department of Energy show buy-in from across the administration for the president's view of gender identity.
Brooke Schultz, June 19, 2025
•
6 min read
Load More ▼