Numbers can say what you want them to say.

That’s evident in the results of the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

That survey indicated a drop in high school sports participation nationwide for the first time in 30 years. On the surface, that seems alarming.

But the decline of 43,395 participants — when compared to the nearly 8 million still playing — is hardly significant. And Pennsylvania ranks sixth among all states in the country with 316,429 high school athletes.

The only states with more are Texas, California, New York, Ohio and Illinois.

The number of high school football players in the United States has dropped for the fifth consecutive year. The amount of girls playing high school football has doubled since 2010, from 1,249 to 2,404.

Interesting combination.

Before anyone predicts overall doom for prep football, consider that more than a million boys participated last year, 400,000 more than any other high school sport.

The number of high school girls basketball players in this country stood at 399,067 — the lowest since 1992-93 — but the female numbers in volleyball and lacrosse are on the rise.

Girls wrestling has increased by a whopping 27 percent nationwide over the past year. The most popular girls sport continues to be track, though the sport of competitive spirit has increased 38 percent since 2012.

Boys volleyball participation has increased by 26 percent over the past seven years.

High school sports in general remain heavily populated.

Because lessons such as teamwork, loyalty and work ethic can be learned by such ventures, that’s a good thing.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle