Fresh numbers just dropped, and they’re a big deal for anyone who loves track. On October 1, 2026, the NFHS released its annual High School Athletics Participation Survey for the 2025-26 school year — and for the fifth year in a row, high school sports set a new all-time participation record.
That’s great news for track and field programs everywhere, and it’s a golden opportunity for the pole vault. Let’s dig into what the new data says, where track stands, and why this is the perfect moment to grow your vault crew.
The Headline Numbers: Another Record Year
Here’s the big picture straight from the NFHS release:
- 8,415,684 total participants in high school sports in 2025-26
- That’s up 149,440 from the previous year
- 4,761,095 boys and 3,654,589 girls — both record highs
- It’s the fifth consecutive year of growth since the post-pandemic rebound began
For context, the 2024-25 survey had already set a record at 8,266,244 participants. So we’re not talking about a one-year blip — high school sports keep climbing, year after year.
The NFHS also pointed out how far things have come since the survey began in 1971. That first survey counted 3.6 million boys and just 294,015 girls. Today, girls participation has passed 3.6 million. That’s an incredible story, and track and field is a huge part of it.
Where Track and Field Stands in 2025-26
So how did our sport do? Here’s what the NFHS reported:
| What the 2025-26 survey says | |
|---|---|
| Girls outdoor track & field | Still the No. 1 sport for girls — but girls volleyball is now only 7,014 participants behind |
| Girls volleyball | Topped 500,000 for the first time, at 502,056 |
| Boys outdoor track & field | One of five top-10 boys sports to grow, up about 4,000 participants |
That girls volleyball note is the one coaches should pay attention to. Track and field has held the top spot for girls, but the gap is now razor thin. Girls flag football and girls wrestling are also booming — girls flag football jumped 48.7 percent in a single year to 102,360 participants, and girls wrestling rose 19.9 percent to 88,771.
What does that mean for you? More sports are competing for the same athletes. The programs that grow will be the ones that give kids a reason to show up — and few events in all of high school sports are as fun and memorable as flying over a bar on a pole.
For a little more context, the year before (2024-25), the NFHS reported 644,235 boys and 513,808 girls in outdoor track, plus 89,019 boys and 71,358 girls in indoor track. Track is one of the biggest participation sports in America — and every one of those teams has a pole vault slot to fill.
How High Are High Schoolers Going?
Want to know what the top of the high school pole vault looks like? Every year the NFHS compiles a national honor roll of the top 10 performances in each event, as submitted by its member state associations. The most recent lists (published September 2025) show just how high the best prep vaulters are flying:
| Honor roll | No. 1 mark | No. 10 mark |
|---|---|---|
| Boys pole vault | 17-1 | 16-6 |
| Girls pole vault | 14-4 | 12-9 |
A few fun takeaways:
- Seven different boys tied at 16-6 to round out the boys’ top 10. That’s a crowded neighborhood!
- Texas was all over both lists — seven of the top 10 boys’ spots and five of the top 10 girls’ spots.
- The girls’ list was spread across Texas, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Florida, and Nevada, proof that great vaulting happens all over the country.
Those marks are elite. But every one of those athletes started somewhere — usually with a short run, a soft pole, and a coach who showed them how to hold it.
Why the Pole Vault Is a Great Event to Grow
Bigger track rosters mean more athletes looking for their event. Here’s the pitch for steering some of them toward the runway.
It builds more than athletes. Apex Vaulting, a pole vault club, wrote a great piece called “Why Pole Vault?” explaining that their club’s athletes range from 12 years old all the way up to 63. Their point: the vault is about personal growth. Learning a technical event means keeping track of grips, poles, steps, and cues — and learning to set goals, make a plan, and adjust when obstacles pop up. Those skills carry over to school, work, and life.
It’s a fitness magnet. The same article notes that pull-ups and upper body strength (especially the lats) become hugely important for vaulters. But the vault is the motivator — as Apex puts it, the thrill of flying through the air makes athletes want to get in better shape, because better shape means higher jumps.
It builds team culture. Apex describes older and younger athletes helping each other, where skill mastery — not age or PR — decides who you learn from. That kind of culture keeps kids coming back.
What a First Practice Actually Looks Like
New athletes (and parents!) are often intimidated by the vault. Apex Vaulting’s “What Should You Expect at Your First Pole Vault Practice?” does a great job busting that myth. Their beginner practice looks like this:
- Warm-up — hip walk/jog, skips, and dynamic stretching
- Running drills — because running technique and speed drive height
- Pole drops — learning to hold, carry, and plant the pole while standing still
- Roll-over drill — an upper body drill that teaches pole speed and swing speed
- Pole runs — planting while running to learn plant timing
- Jumping drill — practicing the transition from sprint to jump, no pole needed
Apex says that warm-up runs about 30 minutes. Then beginners head to the pit, where most first-day jumps happen from 2 to 6 total steps, and the plant often isn’t added yet to keep things simple. Swinging, turning, and pushing off come once an athlete can land deep in the pit.
That’s the message to share with new recruits: nobody starts by sprinting full-speed down the runway. Everyone starts small, and even the experienced athletes keep doing those same foundation drills.
Ready to Grow Your Vault Program?
The 2025-26 numbers are clear: more students than ever are playing high school sports, track and field is still one of the biggest games in town, and the competition for athletes is heating up. Programs that offer a fun, well-equipped pole vault group have a real recruiting edge.
If you’re adding vaulters this year, TetonVault can help you build out the right pole lineup. We carry UST-ESSX, Gill Pacer, and FiberSport poles, plus bags and accessories to keep your gear protected. Browse our pole selection, check out team and school orders, or contact Coach Dopp for help planning a starter pole progression for your new vaulters.
More kids are showing up. Let’s get them flying.
