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24 Team Insight / March 2018 teaminsightmag.com GIRLS' & WOMEN'S SPORTS / SOFTBALL High School Fast-Pitch in 2018 THE BIG PICTURE At the high school level, fast-pitch softball is one of America's most popular sports for girls (and a handful of boys). According to the most recent participation report from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), fast-pitch softball is the fourth most popular high school sport for girls in the U.S., from the point of view of the number of schools that sponsor a team — 15,440 schools have a girls' fast- pitch softball team. From a participation perspective, fast-pitch softball is the fifth most popular high school sport in the U.S., with 367,405 participants. The top four high school sports for girls, participation wise, are outdoor track and field, volleyball, basketball and soccer. SURVEY SAYS It's worth noting that another 1329 boys from 65 high schools also play fast-pitch softball, which means the total number of high school fast-pitch softball players in the U.S. during the 2016-17 school year was 368,734, up slightly from the 368,153 fast-pitch softball players in the U.S. in the 2015-16 school year. OHIO, OHIO, OHIO The proverbial hot-bed of high school boys' fast-pitch softball is Ohio, where 1258 boys from 57 schools compete in high school fast-pitch softball. Ohio is the fourth-most popular state for girls playing high school fast-pitch softball, with 765 schools fielding a total of 16,906 participants. NOT PLAYING BALL As popular as high school girls' fast-pitch softball is, there are two states that don't have high school girls' fast-pitch softball teams, as governed by the NFHS — South Dakota and Wyoming. TOP 10 STATES The 10 most popular states for high school fast-pitch softball (for girls) are Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Florida and New Jersey. Q