My HS had a lot of clubs (mid 2010’s) but I found them very high pressure and full of “I need this for my college application” types. Always ended up feeling like another class where there would be some giant, resume worthy high pressure project or competition at the end of the semester to prep for and if you ever missed a meeting you’d get blamed and shamed by other club members for being lazy… or legit get kicked out.

I ended up legit not being in any clubs after freshman year bc I kept getting sick all the time and would get shamed for not being able to go every single week.

We do have clubs, but it's hard to get into them. There's an initial club day, and if you miss anything then or decide to try out something else instead, it's very difficult to join later on. The club I've stayed consistent in is crafting, and while quite fun, there's only one other kid. My music lessons and homework took priority over debate, so I don't have that option anymore.

I think that you just needed a teacher to sponsor your club if you wanted to form one and if there was demonstrated interest. I think that teachers got paid to help manage a club back then. I suspect that this varies widely by school district. It's probably harder in a small school than a very large one.