The high school years are some of the most formative of any individual’s life. And given that there are 30,000 (mostly) public and private secondary schools in the United States, those institutions have enormous influence — and responsibility — when charting the life course for a combined 17 million Americans.
More than ever, this mapping of lifelong habits includes promoting the importance of both physical health and mental wellbeing. Prior to the start of the 2023-24 academic year, Athletic Business sampled high school athletic directors to learn what their schools offer in terms of fitness infrastructure. Here’s what we learned.
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The high school years are some of the most formative of any individual’s life. And given that there are 30,000 (mostly) public and private secondary schools in the United States, those institutions have enormous influence — and responsibility — when charting the life course for a combined 17 million Americans.
More than ever, this mapping of lifelong habits includes promoting the importance of both physical health and mental wellbeing. Prior to the start of the 2023-24 academic year, Athletic Business sampled high school athletic directors to learn what their schools offer in terms of fitness infrastructure. Here’s what we learned.
Schools in our survey represent a vast range in terms of the number of student-athletes served — from a lone school of 20 athletes to an entire district serving 3,000, with a mean of 419. Nearly half (45 percent) of our sample said they feel they do not have enough training space to serve their student-athletes, and more than two-thirds (69 percent) said they consider their current facilities either on par or subpar when compared to other districts of similar size. Eighty-two percent reported that their training space is shared with the physical education department, but the remaining schools said they don’t share space (8 percent) or have plans to develop separate space for athletics (10 percent).
That said, respondents generally have a more favorable opinion of the equipment within their training spaces than the space itself. When asked, “Does your school have the essential equipment to train athletes in a multisport program?” a full 85 percent said, “Yes.”
Equipment preferences appear to be in flux, however. Asked how their training offerings have changed over the past 10 years, only 8 percent of respondents indicated no significant change. For most of the rest of our sample, greater emphasis has shifted toward strength training (40 percent) and functional strength training (33 percent). Only seven percent of respondents indicated a greater emphasis on cardio training. The most popular equipment type mentioned by the bulk of our sample: Racks.
Moreover, 31 percent currently employ programming related to strength and conditioning provided by their equipment vendors.
The good news appears to be that most schools in our survey have some money to spend and are looking to spend it on their workout facilities. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said their 2023-24 athletics budget increased (compared to 28 percent who said it stayed the same and 15 percent who said it decreased), and nearly four in five respondents said they have plans to renovate training facilities within the next five years.     — The Editors
