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High school athletics participation numbers in the United Stats have risen steadily for nearly 25 years, but an examination of participation numbers in the state of Wisconsin reveals a different trend.

From data reported by the WIAA to the National Federation of High Schools for the school years 2002-03 through 2012-13, the overall number of high school sport participants (grades 9-12) has risen slightly, but most of that came in the middle part of the 2000's.

Since a high of 201,116 total high school athletes in the state in the 2006-07 school year, participation has seen a marked decline, tumbling to 192,400 in the 2012-13 school year. That drop of 9424 participants in just five years is a decline of nearly 5%.

Examining individual sport numbers reveals several other disturbing trends.

Girls basketball had 475 supporting schools in 2002-03 and 2011-12. However, the total number of participants dropped 1,925 -- from 13474 to 11638. Boys basketball saw a slight drop as well, from 15851 in 02-03 to 15,228 last year, despite two more teams overall.

Football, the number one participation sport in the country and in the state of Wisconsin, was not immune to declining numbers. From 30,548 in 02-03, and a high of 31,293 in 07-08, participation numbers have dipped to 27,840 in the 2012-13 season.

One sport that perhaps surprisingly hasn't seen a large-scale decrease in participation numbers is wrestling. Some have pointed to the sport as dwindling, but while the overall number of teams has gone down by 19, the overall participation has been largely unchanged from the 2002-03 numbers, and the 2012-13 season saw an increase of 300 wrestlers in the state.

Perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that non-contact sports such as track & field, tennis, swimming & diving, golf, and cross country have all seen increases over the ten year span. Track & field showed a considerable jump, going from 24,322 participants in 2002-03 to 26,257 last year, although that number is slightly lower than the 2012-13 campaign.

What this all means is certainly up for debate, as are the causes and reasons behind declining numbers in some sports. What it does show is that the high school sports landscape is ever-changing, and will certainly look much different ten, and even five, years from now than it does today.

Below is the 2012-13 schol year participation report from the NFHS for all states, which includes breakdowns by sport and a historical analysis of overall participation numbers dating back to 1971-72.

The table below includes yearly participation numbers in the state of Wisconsin for grades 9-12 by sport, gender, and totals.