North Dakota Preps

Would like to hear everyone's theory on why numbers are consistently going down across the state. This is an issue for class A as well as Class B.

My theory is when they changed the seasons for basketball. Girls ball used to be before the boys season with volleyball going in winter. All the girls want to do is play volleyball. 3 times more players out for volleyball than basketball in our area.

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edit: to add a 2nd thread

Volleyball comes first and they also Can play in the summer and spring in clubs so they aren’t just playing for 3 months anymore. Burned out for winter sports. Also easier to participate, 6-10 can play a game at a time as opposed to 5-7 in b b, thirdly basketball has become a very physical game. Most girls don’t like physical touching in sports. A lot of boys don’t even like it. Fourthly. It’s a lot of work to play both ends of the court. A lot of Kids don’t like that much work. I believe it’s a combination of things. I feel like sports in 10-15 years will be all club and eliminated from schools. IMO

BBfan4life wrote:Volleyball comes first and they also Can play in the summer and spring in clubs so they aren’t just playing for 3 months anymore. Burned out for winter sports. Also easier to participate, 6-10 can play a game at a time as opposed to 5-7 in b b, thirdly basketball has become a very physical game. Most girls don’t like physical touching in sports. A lot of boys don’t even like it. Fourthly. It’s a lot of work to play both ends of the court. A lot of Kids don’t like that much work. I believe it’s a combination of things.

Nothing you said is untrue. There are a lot of different reasons.

I feel like sports in 10-15 years will be all club and eliminated from schools. IMO

This may happen at some point, but I don't think it will be within 15 years.

My humble take on this....too much work. Kids don't want to practice, they just want to play games. I am seeing things in the class B area both men's and women where there is such a lack of fundamentals. I watched an entire game of boys and never saw a correct chest pass. It takes all of about 5 seconds to know if they are dominate handed and can even dribble with the opposite hand.

I think last year I watched a kid get all region and I never saw her ever dribble with her right hand (left handed). And yet nobody played to her hand.

My buddy coaches a younger girls group over in Fargo and tells me time and time again that he can't get the girls to practice (5th and 6th grade). If he practices more than 5 days without a scrimmage or a game, they quit coming to practice.

Volleyball has less contact and I see fewer injuries.

Just as Koby Bryant has said, AAU ball will kill basketball in this country. Europeans will dominate the NBA because our kids lack fundamentals.