High School Football
Join us in spreading the word about the benefits of participating in high school football.
Fred Hoiberg was an Iowa Mr. Basketball, a Gatorade Player of the Year, and a 2012 NFHS Hall-of-Famer.
But he didn’t just play one sport.
Hoiberg developed his vision as a football quarterback, leading his team to two state championship appearances. On the track, he honed his speed on three state championship teams.
You don’t have to focus on just one sport to make it big.
Just take a look at NBA legend and Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg. #ThisIsHSFootball
Be sure to use the hashtag #ThisIsHSFootball whenever you share stories and photos about football on social media!
There’s not just one type of student that excels at football. That’s why it has one of the biggest rosters—and opportunities for every student to play—among high school sports.
Progress. Perhaps no game—and its players—have benefited more from progress than football.
Girls across America are carrying the flag for something exciting and new: Flag Football.
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