Youth volleyball participation reached 564,380 athletes in the 2023-24 National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) participation survey. That total combines 479,125 girls and 85,255 boys participants across school volleyball programs. The same survey counted 20,654 volleyball schools and reported girls volleyball in 51 states and boys volleyball in 29 states.
Contents
- Participation snapshot
- Girls and boys volleyball
- Year-over-year changes
- Beach and unified volleyball
- State coverage and season calendars
- Season length and contest counts
Participation snapshot
The 2023-24 NFHS participation survey provides the clearest recent snapshot in this set of statistics. Traditional volleyball included 3,805 boys schools and 85,255 boys participants. Girls volleyball included 16,849 schools and 479,125 participants. Together, those figures produced 20,654 schools and 564,380 participants.
The participation totals describe school-based programs reported for the 2023-24 school year. They are not a count of every youth player in the country: the survey categories are organized around NFHS member-school participation. That distinction matters when using these numbers to understand the size of organized high-school volleyball.
Girls volleyball was the second-largest girls sport by participants in the 2023-24 survey. Its 479,125 participants trailed outdoor track and field, which had 506,015. By school count, girls volleyball ranked third among girls sports, with 16,849 programs. Boys volleyball did not appear in the NFHS top 10 boys programs by participants in that survey.
The survey also reported volleyball in 29 boys-reporting states and 51 girls-reporting states. Those state counts show a broad girls volleyball footprint and a smaller, though substantial, boys volleyball footprint in the reporting period. The figures should be read as reporting coverage for the survey, not as a claim that participation was identical in every state.
Girls and boys volleyball
The gender split is one of the most noticeable features of these youth volleyball statistics. In 2023-24, girls accounted for 479,125 participants, while boys accounted for 85,255. Girls programs numbered 16,849, compared with 3,805 boys programs.
The prior NFHS participation survey, covering 2022-23, recorded 470,488 girls participants and 77,287 boys participants. It counted 16,610 girls schools and 3,376 boys schools. The 2022-23 combined total was 547,775 participants across 19,986 schools.
The year labels are important. The 2022-23 figures describe the 2022-23 survey period, while the 2023-24 figures describe the following survey period. They are useful for measuring change between reported school years, but they do not provide a player-by-player longitudinal count.
Girls volleyball ranked No. 2 among girls sports by participants in 2022-23 as well, with 470,488 participants. Outdoor track and field ranked ahead of it with 486,355. Girls volleyball also ranked No. 3 among girls sports by schools in 2022-23, with 16,610 programs.
| NFHS measure | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|
| Combined volleyball participants | 547,775 | 564,380 |
| Girls volleyball participants | 470,488 | 479,125 |
| Boys volleyball participants | 77,287 | 85,255 |
| Combined volleyball schools | 19,986 | 20,654 |
| Girls volleyball schools | 16,610 | 16,849 |
| Boys volleyball schools | 3,376 | 3,805 |
| Boys-reporting states | 25 | 29 |
| Girls-reporting states | 51 | 51 |
Source: 2022-23 NFHS participation survey and 2023-24 NFHS participation survey.
Year-over-year changes
Across the two NFHS participation surveys, combined volleyball participation increased from 547,775 in 2022-23 to 564,380 in 2023-24. That is a reported increase of 16,605 participants. The number of volleyball schools increased from 19,986 to 20,654, a rise of 668 schools.
Girls volleyball participation increased by 8,637, from 470,488 to 479,125. Girls volleyball schools increased by 239, from 16,610 to 16,849. Boys volleyball participation increased by 7,968, from 77,287 to 85,255, while boys volleyball schools increased by 429, from 3,376 to 3,805.
The state-reporting figures changed differently by gender. Boys-reporting states increased from 25 in 2022-23 to 29 in 2023-24. Girls-reporting states remained at 51 in both surveys. These are survey-reported coverage counts and should not be treated as a complete ranking of state volleyball strength.
The participation and school totals move in the same direction across both categories. That makes the comparison useful for describing the scale of the reported programs. It does not establish why the totals changed, because the supplied NFHS figures do not identify causes such as new programs, changes in reporting, or movement between school years.
Beach and unified volleyball
The NFHS surveys also separated beach volleyball and unified volleyball from traditional volleyball. These categories were much smaller, but both increased between the two reported school years.
In 2023-24, beach volleyball had 39 boys schools and 987 boys participants, plus 582 girls schools and 10,598 girls participants. The combined beach volleyball total was 11,585 participants. In 2022-23, beach volleyball had 33 boys schools and 792 boys participants, plus 518 girls schools and 9,016 girls participants, for 9,808 combined participants.
Beach volleyball participation therefore rose by 1,777 participants between the surveys. Boys beach volleyball participation rose by 195, from 792 to 987, and girls beach volleyball participation rose by 1,582, from 9,016 to 10,598. Boys beach volleyball schools increased by 6, from 33 to 39, while girls beach volleyball schools increased by 64, from 518 to 582.
Unified volleyball had 52 boys schools and 452 boys participants in 2023-24, plus 48 girls schools and 478 girls participants. Its combined total was 930 participants. In 2022-23, unified volleyball had 49 boys schools and 411 boys participants, plus 42 girls schools and 402 girls participants, for 813 combined participants.
Unified volleyball participation increased by 117 participants between the two surveys. The figures show growth in both the boys and girls categories, but they remain separate from the 564,380 traditional-volleyball participants reported for 2023-24.
State coverage and season calendars
The 2023-24 NFHS season survey records different calendars for boys and girls volleyball in states that reported each category. The dates below are season start and end dates, followed by championship dates and the reported number of contests. A date such as 8/7 to 11/11 is a season range, while a championship range identifies the dates supplied for the state tournament period.
Among the reported boys seasons, Alabama ran from 8/7 to 10/16, with championships from 10/17 to 11/2 and 15 contests. Alaska ran from 8/2 to 11/11, with championships on 11/9-11 and 22 contests. Arkansas ran from 8/21 to 10/28, with a championship date of 10/28 and 30 contests.
Several states reported spring boys seasons. Arizona ran from 2/26 to 5/11, with championships on 5/3-11 and 20 contests. California ran from 2/1 to 5/11, with championships on 5/14-18 and 28 contests. Colorado ran from 2/29 to 4/30, with championships on 5/4-11 and 23 contests. Connecticut ran from 3/16 to 6/6, with championships on 5/29-6/6 and 20 contests.
Florida boys volleyball ran from 2/12 to 5/18, with championships on 5/17-18 and 25 contests. Hawaii ran from 2/12 to 5/11, with championships on 5/6-11 and 26 contests. Illinois ran from 3/4 to 6/1, with championships on 5/31-6/1 and 35 contests. Indiana ran from 3/10 to 5/31, with championships on 5/13-31 and 23 contests. Missouri ran from 2/26 to 5/22, with championships on 5/21-22 and 20 contests.
Girls seasons were generally reported in late summer and fall. Arizona ran from 8/23 to 11/10, with championships on 10/31-11/10 and 20 contests. California ran from 8/1 to 11/4, with championships on 11/7-18 and 28 contests. Colorado ran from 8/17 to 10/28, with championships on 11/4-11 and 23 contests. Connecticut ran from 8/19 to 11/18, with championships on 11/6-18 and 20 contests.
Season length and contest counts
The reported season calendars show that youth volleyball does not follow one national schedule. In the 2023-24 season survey, girls volleyball in Florida ran from 7/31 to 11/11, with championships on 11/6-11 and 25 contests. Illinois ran from 8/7 to 11/11, with championships on 11/10-11 and 35 contests. Indiana ran from 7/31 to 11/4, with championships on 10/10-11/4 and 23 contests.
Other girls schedules had different contest counts. The District of Columbia reported a season from 8/1 to 11/10, championship dates of 11/7-10, and 24 contests. Idaho ran from 8/7 to 10/28, with championships on 10/26-28 and 84 contests. Iowa ran from 8/7 to 10/15, with championships on 10/16-11/2 and 14 contests.
Kansas reported 8/14 to 10/20, championships on 10/21-28, and 36 contests. Kentucky reported 8/14 to 10/15, championships on 10/16-11/4, and 35 contests. Maine reported 8/14 to 10/17, championships on 10/19-28, and 14 contests. Maryland reported 8/9 to 11/1, championships on 11/2-18, and 15 contests.
The survey also recorded a spring girls season in Massachusetts: 3/18 to 5/24, with a championship date of 6/13 and 20 contests. Massachusetts boys volleyball ran from 8/21 to 10/27, with championships on 11/17-18 and 20 contests. Georgia girls volleyball ran from 7/31 to 10/4, with championship dates of 10/17-11/4 and 18 contests.
Mississippi girls volleyball ran from 7/24 to 10/5, with championships on 10/19-20 and 20 contests. Michigan ran from 8/7 to 11/18, with championships on 10/30-11/18 and 18 contests. Minnesota ran from 8/14 to 11/8, with championships on 11/8-11 and 17 contests. Missouri girls volleyball ran from 8/7 to 11/4, with championships on 11/2-4 and 36 contests.
These season figures describe the calendars and contest counts reported by state associations for 2023-24. They are useful for comparing how schedules were structured across the listed states, but they do not provide a national average or establish how many matches an individual athlete played.