How popular is volleyball among high school girls?

Quick: What’s the most popular high school girls’ team sport in the Pac-12’s six Western states?

Basketball? Hoops have been around for a while, and get a lot of media attention.

Soccer? It’s up-and-coming; doesn’t every kid in America play soccer when they’re 8 years old?

No, the most popular high school girls’ team sport in the West … is volleyball. It’s number one in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon,Washington, Hawai’i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming.

Among the six states (below) with at least one Pac-12 team, volleyball trails only Track & Field in combined total number of participants. (I consider track, cross-country, swimming, golf, tennis, gymnastics & wrestling as “individual” sports, since athletes compete for individual state titles, in addition to a team championship.)

Here are the latest numbers from the National Federation of High Schools 2010-11 Participation Survey. (Number of participants in each sport in parentheses).

Arizona

1. Volleyball (7,276)
2. Softball (6,532)
3. Track & Field (6,497)
4. Basketball (6,484)
5. Soccer (5,803)

California

1. Track & Field (44,625)
2. Soccer (42,720)
3. Volleyball (39,122)
4. Basketball (32,839)
5. Softball (32,816)

Colorado

1. Volleyball (9,328)
2. Basketball (7,306)
3. Soccer (7,217)
4. Track & Field (6,672)
5. Tennis (4,812)

Oregon

1. Volleyball (6,989)
2. Track & Field (6,931)
3. Basketball (6,216)
4. Soccer (5,121)
5. Softball (4,240)

Utah

1. Basketball (3,564)
2. Track & Field (3,470)
3. Soccer (2,902)
4. Volleyball (2,302)
5. Softball (2,162)

Washington

1. Volleyball (10,283)
2. Track & Field (10,031)
3. Soccer (9,421)
4. Basketball (9,009)
5. Tennis (7,649)

Pac-12’s six states

1. Track & Field (78,226)
2. Volleyball (75,300)
3. Soccer (73,184)
4. Basketball (65,418)
5. Softball (57,162)
6. Tennis (41,775)

Volleyball’s rank in other (non-Pac-12) Western States:

#1: Hawai’i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming

#2: Alaska (behind basketball)

[Thanks to Terry Wood for the heads-up on the latest numbers]

[correction: Volleyball is #2 in Alaska behind basketball]