The Abridged version:
- High school sports’ participation rates have shifted dramatically, according to data.
- Boys volleyball and girls flag football grew faster than any other high school sports in the Sacramento region during the last decade.
- High school athletes see flag football and boys volleyball as fun, competitive sports that colleges are starting to notice.
Boys playing volleyball? Girls playing football?
The answer at local high schools during the last several years has been a resounding “yes!”
Boys volleyball and girls flag football grew faster than any other high school sports in the Sacramento region during the last decade, data from the California Interscholastic Federation show.
About 3,600 boys played high school volleyball during the 2024-25 school year in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section, which covers Sacramento and the surrounding area. That’s roughly quadruple the number of boys volleyball players in 2015.
Around 3,600 girls played flag football in 2024-25 in the Sac-Joaquin section. That sport barely existed on high school campuses just a few years ago.
For decades at local high schools, volleyball was mostly played by girls, and football was mostly played by boys.
Coaches and players said the new trend is a recognition of a simple fact: Both sports are fun and healthy and can be enjoyed by either gender.
High school athletes seek choices
The trend also reflects how high school athletes want more options. For example, a boy who plays basketball in the winter and wants to play a spring sport might have skills more suited for volleyball than baseball. Or a girl who runs track and field in the spring who wants to play a fall sport may be more suited to flag football than volleyball.
“I remember when boys volleyball was the fourth stepchild of the high school sports program,” said Scott Bronson, coach of the Del Oro High School boys volleyball team in Loomis. “It was seen as a girls sport for a long time, and so a lot of high schools just gave them the girls equipment.”
Volleyball embraced as fun, competitive
Today, Bronson added, people recognize “it’s just an amazing sport. I’ve turned football players and basketball players over into it, and it’s just incredible to find something that’s so fun — very competitive, very high level.”
On a recent Monday evening in Loomis, Bronson and his players huddled together and joked with each other as he gave one of them an award before a game against Oak Ridge High.
A few minutes later, Drake’s “Up All Night” blared from the gym speakers as the teams warmed up with sets, spikes and, for fun, a few volleys that made it all the way up to the tall rafters at Del Oro’s gym. More than 50 people sat in the stands.
Once the game started, the play moved quickly, with only short breaks between points, creating a rhythm closer to basketball than the frequent pauses common to football or baseball.
Volleyball attracts basketball players
Many of the players on Del Oro’s team previously played middle school or high school basketball, including Hunter Larkin, a senior and team cocaptain. Larkin said the athleticism, endurance, jumping skills and speed required for basketball translates well to volleyball. He got into volleyball when Bronson was his middle school basketball coach. For the past few years, he played pretty much year round, either on a club team or for his high school.
Del Oro had the most success on Monday when Larkin served, often overpowering the Oak Ridge players by forcing a weak return.
Boys volleyball has become more popular because of “people starting to realize the potential the sport has,” Larkin said. “I think it’s really fun to watch, really fun to play.”
Competition increases
Bronson said the competition has improved each of the last several years. During the 2024-25 season, Del Oro won the Sac-Joaquin Division II section championship. When he’s not at Del Oro, Bronson helps coach a club team that travels all over the state and the nation.
For years, Bronson said, boys volleyball careers peaked in high school. Now, more colleges are starting to field boys’ teams, which could further increase participation.
“I think that there is a future where it’s going to continue to grow at the college level and I’m always hopeful that maybe there’ll be some sort of semi professional – some kind of league and venue that will allow fans and people to go watch the higher level,” he said.
Girls flag football region’s fastest growing
Under the lights of the football field at Cosumnes River College in early November, McClatchy High School quarterback Daisy Throckmorton clapped her hands to indicate she was ready for the snap.
It was the second half of the Division I section championship game against West Park High School. West Park was trying to stage a comeback. Throckmorton took the snap, spent three seconds scanning the field and then delivered a pass over the heads of West Park defenders and into the hands of wide receiver London Lee, who ran for a touchdown.
McClatchy won the game and the section championship.
Colleges field flag football teams
“It’s such an empowering movement, especially for girls and women who have an opportunity to play at the next level,” said McClatchy High flag football coach John Avery, noting that many colleges are starting flag football teams.
Local high schools began offering flag football in earnest just a few years ago. Now, the Sac-Joaquin section features scores of teams across multiple divisions.
McClatchy High is among the most successful. Throckmorton, who also plays basketball, was The Sacramento Bee flag football player of the year. She even started at quarterback for the “boys” varsity football team. (Twenty-one girls played tackle football in the Sac-Joaquin section last year, CIF data show.)
Avery said the best flag football players often are fast, with good coordination and deft footwork. The vast majority of his team’s players also play another sport, including soccer, basketball and softball.
Flag football feels a lot like “traditional” football. But the teams are smaller, with seven players from each team on the field, and the games are faster, lasting about an hour, and more frequent. During the just completed season, McClatchy went 24-5, playing three times as many games as the tackle varsity team.
Avery said most high schools in the region fielded flag football teams during the just-completed fall season — even many small schools.
“I’ve done tackle for 20 something years, and then transitioning into flag … it’s really important to have a really good culture and empower young women,” Avery said.
“We had a mantra,” he added: “Be first, be fast, and then finish.”
Related by PBS KVIE: Girls Flag Football in Roseville at Woodcreek High School
Phillip Reese is a regular contributor, writing Numbers Matter for Abridged.