Viren de Jeu

FOCUSED SHOOTING. At a girls basketball game on Dec. 2 against Latin, ninth grader Leilani Sally shoots the ball. Because of low enrollment, U-High only has a varsity team for girls basketball, so ninth graders on the team have to go from recreational middle school play to competitive high school play.

This story was updated on Dec. 19 at 10 p.m. to include a comment from junior Victoria Syverson, who has played with the team despite the decline in participation.

This story was updated on April 28 at 1 p.m. The original version of the story listed Iowa State as playing South Carolina in the 2024 NCAA Division I women’s basketball championship but it was Iowa University.

Women’s basketball is more popular than ever. In 2024, the NCAA Division I women’s basketball championship between South Carolina and Iowa University drew 24 million viewers — a viewing record — making it the most-watched women’s basketball game of all time. However, this popularity doesn’t transfer to girls basketball at Lab, as participation has decreased in recent years across all grade levels.

The decrease in girls’ basketball participation at U-High stems from lower involvement as well as a lack of preparation and confidence in middle school. Additionally, many girls prefer sports other than basketball.

According to the athletics department, in 2022, 21 seventh grade girls and 15 eighth grade girls signed up for basketball. This year’s turnout is 19 players between both grades, a 47% decline. At the high school, JV girls basketball was phased out in 2015, leaving a single varsity roster with 11 players this season.

Players immediately go from recreational middle school games to competitive high school varsity games against players who have had JV experience. Assistant Athletics Director Becky Chmielewski sees how this may deter girls from continuing participation in high school, where they might be outmatched.

“It’s hard to, like, you know, put in all that time and effort and then not win a lot,” Ms. Chmielewski said. 

Senior Leyla Yates stopped playing basketball after her ninth grade season, choosing to focus on soccer. She felt like she walked into varsity basketball blind, unaware of the expectations.

“I was scared at first, like, ‘I’m gonna be on varsity? I suck at basketball. I’m just doing this for fun,’” Leyla said. “So I think if there was a JV, that would have been a lot easier for transition, but obviously, like, there’s not the numbers,” Leyla said.

Ninth grader Megan Williams, currently a power forward for the girls team, had to mentally prepare herself for the extreme change in skill when she moved to the high school level. She said joining varsity basketball would likely crush the confidence of someone who was not prepared. 

Confidence and positive body image, Assistant Athletics Director Josh Potter has noticed, are two of the major things lacking in girls participating in middle school sports. 

“As a male who’s coached women’s sports as well, a lot of the conversations that I’ve had are, one, that the confidence hasn’t been instilled in them since a young age,” Mr. Potter said.

Leyla remembers that on a regular gameday, there would be only 10 people in the students’ section, a drastic difference from boys games. She noted that the lack of school spirit affected her confidence.

“It seems like a waste of time because nobody really cares about it,” Leyla said. “I would say that definitely factors into people’s decisions like mine to quit, or like not even start in the first place.”

Shooting guard Victoria Syverson, a junior, is in her third season for U-High. She says being on the team is not about the scores of games or how many wins they have, but the strong, supportive community she has created with her teammates.

“I think because we’re a smaller team its easier to be tight-knit in a way,” Victoria said. “I think it’s especially important to be tight-knit when you have a smaller team because that’s how you can help each other and stick strong as a unit instead of trying to play individually.”

The athletics department is currently exploring several ideas to address the decline in girls basketball participation and excite younger girls about sports. They hope to strengthen representation by hiring more female coaches and asking high school female athletes to talk to younger girls and be a positive role model for them. 

“The reality is that we all think about, like, ‘Why do we play? Is it because somebody inspired us, because somebody motivated us, somebody got us excited about it?’” Mr. Potter said. “So I think that’s really one of the big keys for me is like, who in our community wants to be that person?”