CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Only about 1 in 14 high school athletes go on to play varsity sports in college and the odds are even lower (1 in 54) for kids hoping to play at NCAA Division 1 schools, according to the most recently available data (2016-2017) on ScholarshipStats.com.
The website, created by CPA Patrick O'Rourke, collects, analyzes and publishes sports participation and scholarship statistics.
According to his analysis of 2013-2014 scholarship data, several women's sports have the most scholarships available and the smallest pool of high school athletes competing for those scholarships.
Here's the breakdown
Overall, high school sports participation continues to increase, growing by 13% over the last decade in North Carolina alone, according to numbers provided by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Over the last year, more than 181,000 kids played high school sports in North Carolina.
Despite the overall growth, several high school sports are seeing concerning declines, according to NBC Charlotte’s analysis of state data. At the same time, other sports are on the rise.
On Friday, February 1 at 5:45 p.m., we'll tell you which sports parents are putting their kids in and which ones they're pulling away from. More importantly, you'll learn why and what the North Carolina High School Athletic Association hopes parents consider moving forward.