Girls basketball in North Dakota has seen a steady decline in participation over the last 20 years. There are very few teams that can field a JV and Varsity without the aide of Junior High players. It’s fairly common to see 8th graders pulled up to play varsity on the girls side of things. That isn’t the case anymore.
JV basketball is on life support. Teams are raiding the junior high ranks just to scrape together enough players, and even then, many games don’t make it past three quarters. The “C-squad” team is practically extinct. At the youth level it’s even worse, with some schools pulling 3rd and 4th graders into the fight just so a team exists at all.
Since 2002, the girls basketball season has been aligned with the boys. This was intended to help girls athletics and give them more opportunities that the boys were seeing. What we have now are many, if not most schools have 2.5 times as many volleyball players as they will for basketball. So what happened?
Title IX Lawsuit, 2001
The big one, as there have been many, was Communities for Equity v. Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA).
The lawsuit itself made a lot of sense for female athletes to have better opportunities in athletics. It also helped college athletic programs to be able to recruit athletes in lock-step with their own season. Prior to this lawsuit, some states had Girls basketball taking place in the fall, and Volleyball taking place in the winter. This was considered to be making them play “out of season” compared to the boys.
The court ruled that this setup violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, saying the schedule treated girls’ sports as second-class.
The Ripple Effect
The ruling required Michigan to realign its seasons. Volleyball in the fall and girls basketball to the winter. Even though North Dakota was not part of this lawsuit, they decided to act quickly to avoid being sued, and implemented the same change for the 2002-03 school year.
What Happened Next
Aside from the sports calendar changing a little over the next few years, it seemed like it was an overall good thing for women’s sports. Volleyball coaches were able to recruit their players aligned with their season, the girls basketball teams got to be part of “March madness” and everything appeared to be going well.
Volleyball Popularity Surge
The biggest difference between now and before the famous Title IX lawsuit, volleyball hasn’t missed a beat. It has exploded in popularity, with participation climbing steadily in nearly every corner of the state.
If you know anyone with a daughter currently on a travel volleyball team, be nice to them. Maybe send a hot meal their way, give them a hug and blanket. Just know that every weekend of their life is hell.
Basketball has been in steady decline. Travel volleyball plays a role, but the bigger issue is that basketball is simply a harder sport. It takes more skill, more repetition, and far more commitment to be great. Volleyball, winter softball, weekend tournaments — those are distractions. But none demand the all-around ability that basketball does, and that’s exactly why fewer kids are choosing it.
I don’t believe there is one thing that will fix the issue. Girls need to be encouraged to be 3-sport athletes, whether that’s basketball or not. Parents need to put their foot down and stop funding these travel volleyball leagues and tournaments that only care about the almighty dollar.
I could write the word Elite in front of a pay-for-play tournament too!
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