Wisconsin Soccer Central

More than 19,000 high school boys and girls soccer played prep soccer in Wisconsin during the 2012-13 school year, according to data released by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

The 19,060 total – 9,817 boys and 9,243 girls – was the largest participation for the sport in the state since the 2009-10 school year. Our partners at the Wisconsin Sports Network have compiled annual data for Wisconsin for each year since 2002-03. View complete data on WSN

It was the fifth time in the past 11 years soccer had more than 19,000 players, and both the boys and girls totals ranked fifth in that time span. Overall, soccer was fourth in total participation among Wisconsin prep sports, behind football, basketball and track and field, and was fifth in participation for both boys and girls.

Those rankings are similar to the national trends: Boys soccer ranked fifth with 410,892 participants, while girls soccer was fourth with 371,532 – meaning there were 782,514 high school soccer players in 2012-13. California had more than 40,000 players in both boys and girls, while Texas had more than 30,000 in each gender. South Dakota was the only state in the country without recognized soccer teams.

• Waukesha Catholic Memorial and Milwaukee DSHA each rose three spots in this week's Student Sports spring girls Fab 50, with the Crusaders up to No. 31 and the Dashers at No. 43. Both teams also moved up one place in the website's Great Lakes Region rankings, with Catholic Memorial fifth and DSHA seventh among teams in Wisconsin and Michigan. Waunakee dropped out of the regional rankings.
• They won't count in the standings, but Catholic Memorial has two intriguing scrimmages in the next week: the Crusaders will play at reigning Division 1 state champion Cedarburg at 10 a.m. Saturday and at Waunakee at 7 p.m. next Monday.
• The National Soccer Coaches Association of America announced that it will stream a live prep match each week this spring on its digital channel, NSCAA.tv, in a partnership with the National Federation of State High School Associations. Schools can apply to have their match featured in the "NFHS Network Game of the Week," but they must have a production crew already in place. Considerations for selecting the weekly match include national rankings, rivalries, unique athlete stories and enthusiastic fan bases. Application for NFHS Network Game of the Week

Do you know of other prep coaching changes for the 2014 season? Email us