“He literally said, ‘I have talent, kids who played basketball in the past, who decided not to go out, and that group is more talented than the group I’m putting on the floor right now,’” Schindler said. Schindler has talked to other coaches and athletic directors about the problems he sees at Deerfield, and they’re […]
“He literally said, ‘I have talent, kids who played basketball in the past, who decided not to go out, and that group is more talented than the group I’m putting on the floor right now,’” Schindler said.
Schindler has talked to other coaches and athletic directors about the problems he sees at Deerfield, and they’re in the same position. He said one athletic director told him that they could put a group of girls together from the student body and beat the varsity team.
Most girls already had played anywhere between 250 to 300 basketball games by the time they entered Don Schindler’s girls basketball program at Deerfield.
“If we don’t have girls going out for the feeders, then we’re not gonna end up having girls playing at the high school level,” she said.
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Edgewood’s Anna Miller looks for someone to pass the ball to during Friday’s WIAA Division 2 state semifinal against Rice Lake.
Girls now will play their last volleyball match on a Friday or Saturday, then go to basketball practice Monday.
Madison East
But development comes at a cost. Justice spent time this season teaching her varsity players how to dribble the ball and other basic basketball skills instead of using the time to game plan against an upcoming opponent or teach more advanced techniques.
LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN ARCHIVES
With a young family of her own, Justice understands that there are more important things in life than basketball. She tells her players that family and school come before basketball, and her flexible approach to practice allows more players to stay involved with the team while working a part-time job or taking care of younger siblings.
Without a connection to the high school program or understanding of local rivalries, high school basketball isn’t always worth sticking around for, especially when players already are exhausted.
Deerfield, a Division 4 school with 205 students, had 10 players on its varsity girls basketball team this season.
The lack of a youth program also made it harder for Justice to coach her varsity team to victories. Girls are entering high school with no previous basketball experience and no grasp of the sport’s fundamentals.
Sara Mallegni remembers a few years ago one of her varsity girls basketball players quit to focus on her club volleyball season.
Unlike Madison East, Deerfield has a thriving youth program run by the town’s community center. However, community center basketball is only the start for girls who play there. Many soon join club teams and play in tournaments across the state and region, spending about three-quarters of the year playing basketball.
The Purgolders finished the season 7-15 after a loss to Waunakee in the regional round.
Deerfield finished 22-4 this season and won the Trailways South Conference. Schindler saw people in the bleachers he hadn’t seen in a few years who were excited by the team’s success.
Madison East’s Valerie Richardson is one of the state’s top scorers, partly because of her ability to shoot from 3-point range.
The youth sports scene has completely changed over the past 20 years. Seasons that used to be six to eight weeks now last up to 24 weeks, which can exhaust young players, Schindler said.
Edgewood’s Beanie Thompson drives to the basket during Friday’s WIAA Division 2 state semifinal against Rice Lake.
Traveling so far for competition has another impact.
Edgewood’s Mya Tomlinson (middle) tips the ball to a teammate during Friday’s Division 2 state semifinal.
“Kids have to provide for their family sometimes, so you’re having kids that have to go from practice to work, or they can’t come to practice on the weekend because they have to work and make money to provide for their family at home,” she said.
Mallegni was a three-sport athlete in high school, playing tennis, basketball and softball. Her daughter, Teagan, a freshman with the University of Iowa women’s basketball team, played basketball and volleyball in high school.
The declining girls basketball numbers have impacted local schools in a variety of ways. Some have had to cut JV programs, while others have suffered from a short bench for their varsity program.
Edgewood’s Erin Schauer attempts a 3-pointer during Friday’s WIAA Division 2 state semifinal.
Edgewood’s Beanie Thompson attempts a shot against Rice Lake.
Edgewood’s Macey Faust (14) looks to take a shot down low during the first half.
However, girls also need to be willing to make an effort for their high school teams.
“They are actually watching games on TV, they show up at games,” Mallegni said about her youth program players. “I think there’s something there that we’ll build on and we’ll get girls that are excited about the game of basketball.”
“I think it becomes too much too fast for third-, fourth-, fifth-grade girls, and that drives the wear-out or burn-out you start to see,” he said.
The key to encouraging multi-sport athletes is ensuring a break between seasons to rest and re-group. When Mallegni was in high school, she always had a few weeks between sports seasons, something she looked forward to immensely.
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The coaches don’t want to blame volleyball, she said. Many coaches, including Mallegni, are willing to be flexible and allow athletes the option of participating in both club volleyball and high school basketball.
For Justice, there’s no clear answer to increasing participation in girls basketball. She suggested shortening the season could help retain the girls who can’t commit four to five months of the school year to basketball, but barriers like money and the cost of living are much harder to solve.
By the time these players reach high school, the number of games played and time spent on their sport can wear them out, which makes them less likely to continue playing.
Beyond getting help from parents to alleviate burnout, Schindler wants to motivate girls to keep playing basketball in high school by showing them the excitement of rivalry games and having classmates and community members cheer them on in the stands.
“They feel like they have to pick and choose, and unfortunately here, they feel like they need to play club volleyball in order to play school ball,” she said.
There are plenty of circumstances that have led to the decline in girls basketball participation over the past 15 years, but a growing wave of young girls have a new reason for joining the sport.
“It just kind of deteriorated, but COVID-19 didn’t help that,” Justice said. “It just wiped everything away, and now it’s up to the head coaches of these schools to bring that back on top of trying to develop their own program.”
“You have to take what you can get,” Justice said. “If girls want to come out, of course I want them. I’m going to help develop them.”
SAMANTHA MADAR, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Rebuilding the Madison East youth program isn’t something Justice can do by herself. She needs the assistance of volunteer coaches and investment from the community. But time is a valuable commodity.
Edgewood’s Maren Schmotzer (25) goes up for a shot during the first half of Friday’s Division 2 state semifinal.
Mallegni participated in a round-table discussion with other coaches in the state before this girls basketball season to discuss declining participation. The 12 coaches on the committee all were frustrated by the consequences of early sports specialization and prioritization of club sports.
Five girls basketball teams were crowned state champions over the weekend in Green Bay, concluding a season that saw the continuation of a troubling trend for the sport in Wisconsin.
“It’s really gotta be driven by the parents,” he said. “Pull them back, give them the opportunity to take a deep breath, play a different sport, be a kid, run around and do something other than play basketball, which is difficult to say when I’m a basketball coach.”
It’s been a struggle for Justice to recruit players without a youth program to feed into the high school teams. There are 1,644 students at Madison East, but the Purgolders had just 15 in their girls basketball program, including 10 on the varsity team.
Edgewood’s sutdent section takes time to do pushups during the second half.
McFarland’s Teagan Mallegni passes during a game in January.
While Schindler believes in the importance of club sports for players who genuinely love them, he knows they are not for everyone.
“We can sell to the kids, say, ‘Listen, there’s some really exciting times. The community will back you.’ I think that’s when a kid’s eyes will light up and get excited again about the sport,” he said.
There is no single reason for the drop in participation. Different factors have played a role in the decline in participation for teams in the Madison area. Here are some of the stories from schools facing decreasing participation in girls basketball.
Legendary beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings won high school state championships in basketball and volleyball. Star basketball players Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark both played multiple sports in high school — Clark played two years of soccer, while Reese was an outside hitter in volleyball.
The girl was adamant that she needed to play club volleyball to be a part of the junior varsity volleyball team at McFarland.
“It used to be that they might leave 15 minutes early from practice,” she said. ”Now we’ve had girls miss school games to go to club practices. It’s not good for team morale when you have people leaving or not showing up.”
Schindler estimates that by high school, only 20 to 30% of girls who play basketball stick with it. Even then, keeping them for all four years of high school is a challenge.
Madison East coach Alysha Justice grew up playing in the Purgolders’ youth program. But it disappeared sometime between her graduation in 2014 and return to the school as its varsity coach in 2022.
Scene from Friday’s WIAA girls basketball state semifinal between Edgewood, Rice Lake
“Basketball coaches that I’ve talked to are big fans of multi-sport athletes and would like to have girls be able to do that without bleeding from one end to the other,” Mallegni said.
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
“It’s just hard to take,” Mallegni said. “We don’t expect our girls to play club if you want to play basketball at McFarland. You can if you want to, but I don’t recommend it necessarily. We like the idea of multi-sport athletes.”
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
While basketball participation has decreased in the last 15 years, girls’ participation in sports increased by more than 250,000 athletes, according to the NFHS. Wisconsin has seen none of that growth. About 7,000 fewer girls participated in high school sports during the 2023-24 school year compared to 2009-10.
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
Girls who play sports in high school are more likely to get better grades, graduate and have higher levels of confidence, according to a study by the Women’s Sports Foundation.
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
“It’s always hard. Money and resources — that’s a big thing. Money is a barrier for a lot of things,” Justice said. “People can’t just donate their time to stuff like that anymore. If you’re not paying coaches, you’re not going to have coaches to do it.”
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
While players at the high school level may feel like they need to choose one sport to increase their chances of playing in college, many of the country’s top female athletes played multiple sports in high school.
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
Money isn’t just a roadblock to getting adult volunteers. Plenty of the players also have to juggle basketball with school, work and family commitments.
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
“This lack of community connection can diminish the excitement of playing for a school team, where local pride and support of friends and family are strong motivators,” Schindler said.
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
Edgewood’s Makayla Foley drives to the basket during Friday’s WIAA Division 2 state semifinal against Rice Lake.
MARK MCMULLEN LEE SPORTS WISCONSIN
Girls basketball participation in Wisconsin has decreased by 24% over the past 15 seasons, compared to a 16.4% decrease nationally, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Association.
