The NCAA News - News and Features

April 27, 1998

Study shows another participation increase

About 328,836 student-athletes participated in NCAA-sponsored sports in 1996-97, the highest number ever. The number is slightly higher than the 1995-96 participation total of 323,763 and significantly higher than in previous years.

Gains were primarily seen in women's sports, but participation figures for men show small increases from the 1995-96 academic year.

Football remained the sport with the most participants. There were approximately 53,984 football players at active and provisional member institutions in all divisions. That number is up 84 participants from 1995-96.

The most-sponsored sport was women's basketball, with teams at 966 institutions. Next was men's basketball, sponsored at 950 institutions, and women's volleyball, with 923 teams.

Women's sports participation reached new heights again in 1996-97 with a total of 128,209 student-athletes. This constitutes a 3.4 percent jump over the 1995-96 numbers, which showed that 123,943 women were participating in NCAA intercollegiate athletics.

Men's overall participation showed gains over 1995-96 as well, growing 0.54 percent to 200,627 from last year's 199,556.

While participation figures are not exact and no audit is performed on the squad lists that are submit-ted, the figures are accurate enough to provide participation compari-sons from year to year, according to Todd A. Petr, the NCAA's director of research.

The figures are adjusted to include institutions that did not submit a squad list for sports they are known to sponsor.

Provisional members included

1995-96 was the first year both active and provisional members were included in the study, which helps to explain the significant jump in participation numbers between that year and previous ones.

Provisional members follow NCAA rules and compete against other NCAA member institutions but do not have voting privileges within the Association.

The inclusion of provisional members primarily affects the participation totals at Division II and Division III institutions, since only two of the 52 additional provisional members counted are in Division I.

The new data make it difficult to compare participation figures from earlier than 1995-96, but it is clear that intercollegiate athletics participation is on the rise.

Changes by division

Division I membership showed a per-school increase of about 17 participants, from about 426 participants in 1995-96 to about 444 participants in 1996-97.

Overall participation showed a 1.9 percent increase over the 1995-96 study, with the largest gain found among women's sports in Division I.

The number of women participants per Division I institution jumped 3.8 percent from 162.7 athletes in 1995-96 to 169.0 athletes in 1996-97. Women account for approximately 38.4 percent of the total athletics participation in Division I (39 percent overall).

In Division I, women's soccer showed the greatest rise in activity, increasing by 26 teams and 611 student-athletes. Only one other Division I sport, softball, increased by more than 300 participants.

The largest team declines in Division I were in men's swimming and wrestling -- declining by four and three teams respectively.

The largest gains in Division II were found in women's soccer, which increased by 19 teams. Other sports that show large team sponsorship growth in Division II include women's golf (13), women's cross country (11), softball (10), men's cross country (nine), men's golf (six), and men's soccer (five).

Division III had the greatest overall expansion, with team growth in 28 sports. Women's soccer grew by 21 teams to show the largest increase in participation, followed by women's lacrosse (nine), and women's golf and women's track, which each grew by eight teams.

The biggest team decline in Division III can be found in wrestling, which declined by five teams.

Several sports growing

Overall, women's soccer attracted the most participant growth -- 1,435 more student-athletes participated in soccer in 1996-97 than in 1995-96. Other sports that grew by more than 200 participants include: softball (561), women's lacrosse (433), women's rowing (375), men's indoor track (277), women's golf (240), women's swimming (246), and women's indoor track (234).

Women's water polo had the most growth among emerging sports with a five-team increase in sponsorship over 1995-96. That year was the first time women's water polo was included in the study.

The largest overall participation decline was in wrestling, which declined by approximately 166 participants and eight teams. Also showing declines were men's fencing (down four teams) and men's swimming (three teams).

Participation was up in all three divisions by a total of 248 teams (21 men's teams and 227 women's teams). Women's soccer was up by 66 teams overall, followed by women's softball (32 teams) and women's golf (30 teams), to show the biggest team increases.

Percentage of women's participants, 1982-96

1982-83 -- 30.8%

1983-84 -- 31.0

1984-85 -- 31.3

1985-86 -- 32.3

1986-87 -- 32.4

1987-88 -- 33.4

1988-89 -- 33.7

1989-90 -- 33.5

1990-91 -- 33.4

1991-92 -- 34.1

1992-93 -- 34.8

1993-94 -- 35.7

1994-95 -- 36.9

1995-96 -- 37.6

1996-97 -- 39.0

Highest participation by sport, 1996-97

1. -- Football -- 53,984

2. -- Baseball -- 24,442

3. -- Men's outdoor track -- 19,305

4. -- Men's soccer -- 17,053

5. -- Men's indoor track -- 15,957

6. -- Women's outdoor track -- 15,578

7. -- Men's basketball -- 15,141

8. -- Women's soccer -- 14,829

9. -- Women's basketball -- 13,392

10. -- -- Women's softball -- 13,167