Play
High School Football
Join us in spreading the word about the benefits of participating in high school football.
High School Football
Join us in spreading the word about the benefits of participating in high school football.
Progress. Perhaps no game—and its players—have benefited more from progress than football.
In high school football, the NFHS has led the way for player protection since 1982, introducing nearly one rule per year focused on reducing risk.
Our big player protection wins include:
Every year, high school football reminds us why we love our fast and physical game. And, every year, the NFHS takes a hard look at how we can protect the players who bring us joy.
Be sure to use the hashtag #ThisIsHSFootball whenever you share stories and photos about football on social media!
Girls across America are carrying the flag for something exciting and new: Flag Football.
You don’t have to leave a sport out to stand out.
In 2021, we partnered with the NFL to launch the #ThisIsHSFootball campaign. Our mission was to promote the benefits of playing and increase participation.
More student-athletes played 11-player high school football in 2025-26 than in any year since 2016-17. That's 1,043,716 student-athletes out under the Friday night lights, an increase of 14,128 over the previous season. Now let’s keep that momentum going.
Through this initiative, we aim to:
With your help, we can spread the word about the benefits of participating in high school football and celebrate this essential team sport for decades to come. No matter if you’re a coach, administrator, state association representative or even a fan, we can all help continue to increase participation numbers by using these tools to introduce more students—and their parent(s)/guardian(s)—to the game! Please share our messages on social media by clicking the share buttons wherever you see them. And be sure to use the hashtag #ThisIsHSFootball when creating your own content!
Promote the value of participating in football
Restore confidence in player protection
Improve the perception of football
