Inquiry about the most common sport in high schools

Hi all. Just a bit curious here, which sport can be considered the most popular or common in high schools nationwide?

Based on the data from the National Federation of State High School Associations, the most popular sport in U.S. high schools is American Football for boys and Track and Field for girls by participant numbers.

In terms of a single-gender sport, American Football has the highest participant numbers among boys at the high school level with about 1 million participants annually. On the other hand, among girls, Track and Field has the highest participation with around 500,000 participants nationwide.

However, if we account for both genders, Track and Field tends to have the most participants combined, because of the significant number of boys also participating in it, even though American Football is most popular for boys.

Please note that the popularity of sports can fluctuate slightly year by year and can vary regionally. For example, Basketball could be more prevalent in urban areas compared to more rural areas where American Football or Baseball might be more popular.