Protecting What Makes High School Sports Different
Kevin Heise
09/23/26 08:38 PM
BY Davis Whitfield ON September 23, 2026 | NFHS NEWS, NFHS REPORT
In a changing sports landscape, one question matters more than ever: What do we want high school sports to be?
College athletics is having a national conversation about its future and what it wants to become. Those debates are a good reminder that high school sports are unlike any other level of athletics, and that distinction is worth protecting.
The scoreboard matters, but the purpose of education-based athletics and activities extends far beyond wins and losses. High school athletics gives students the opportunity to compete, grow, learn valuable life lessons and develop the character and skills that will prepare them for success long after their playing days are over.
Change is inevitable, and high school athletics must continue to evolve to meet the needs of today's students. But as the landscape changes, we must make sure the experience remains recognizable for what it has always been: designed to serve high school students as a supplement to the educational experience.
That responsibility becomes even more important as outside forces continue to shape the sports landscape, and leaders in high school athletics have an opportunity to be intentional about preserving the distinct identity of high school sports.
That is where the 51 NFHS-member state high school athletics and activities associations play such an important role.
Across the country, these state associations work every day to create opportunities for students to participate while establishing the guardrails necessary to protect student-athletes and their schools.
Those guardrails are not restrictions; they are protections designed to promote competitive equity, establish consistent eligibility standards, protect the well-being of students and keep athletics connected to the educational mission of schools.
The decisions being made at the collegiate level today could shape expectations for athletics at every level tomorrow, and the best time to decide what high school athletics should be is now – before someone else makes that decision.
High school athletics is more than a collection of games and competitions. Every week during the school year, thousands of communities across the country come together around high school athletics and activities. In a time when many Americans feel increasingly disconnected from one another, schools remain places where people come together.
A Friday night football game, a basketball tournament, a state championship, a concert or a theater performance can bring students, families, educators and entire communities together around a shared experience.
That is the power of education-based athletics and activities. They not only benefit the participants, but society as well, and it’s why protecting the purpose of high school sports matters and why the work of our 51-member state associations matters.
The NFHS will continue to support our state associations as they work to ensure that students across the country have meaningful opportunities to play, perform and compete – together.
Sports will continue to change, and it’s our responsibility to ensure that, through that change, high school athletics remains true to its purpose and focuses on the students it serves.
Republishing Notice: This article may be republished by media outlets. If republished, please credit Davis Whitfield as the author and The NFHS Report as the original source.
Davis Whitfield began his tenure on August 1, 2026, as executive director of the NFHS, the national leader and advocate for high school sports and performing arts programs based in Indianapolis. He was chief operating officer of the NFHS for 11 years prior to his promotion to the executive direction position. Prior to joining the NFHS staff in 2015, Whitfield was commissioner of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) for five years. He began his career in sports administration in 1995 at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, where he was assistant athletic director for operations and facilities for three years. He then served in the athletic department at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, including two years as director of operations and facilities management and two years as assistant athletic director for operations and facilities. Prior to joining the NHSAA staff, Whitfield was on the administrative staff of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for 7½ years, including the final 2½ years as associate commissioner.
