It starts in high school. First, girls’ high school basketball isn’t going away. Thanks at the beginning to Title IX, and now due to the popularity of the sport and entrenched 30+-year tradition, the girls’ game is as much a part of the high school experience as sleeping through first period.
In addition, more girls are playing basketball, at least in California – a state that even devoted Right Coasters have to admit is a trendsetter. In 2006-07, almost 35,000 girls played basketball in California; in 1998-99, that number was 31,000. Part of that jump, of course, is due to population growth, but there has also been increased competition for female athletes from the rapidly growing, relatively new sports, of lacrosse and water polo.
Second, more and more school districts are playing the girls’ and boys’ varsity games as doubleheaders, which allows fans and students to see just how skilled young females can be.
I recently convinced a couple of my basketball buddies to come to one of my high school team’s practices and scrimmage against my varsity – they were not only surprised by how good the girls were, they also lost every game. Which leads to the next point …
Players are better than ever. Are they as good as they could be? No. But those who have been around a while know that the average high school varsity player in 2007-08 is better than the comparable girl in 1997-98. She may not be a better athlete, but she has more skills and more experience.
At the college level, the same thing applies, though the added incentive of the WNBA (plus the realization that six-figure salaries are available in Europe), has inspired elite players to try and elevate their games to an even higher level. Again, it’s not as high as it might be, but it’s better than before.
In the WNBA, there’s no doubt the quality of play has improved. Compared to the league’s first years, when marginal athletes with marginal professional skills were starting, now the 11th player is much, much better. There’s a still a big gap between the starters and the bench, but the overall skill level of the league is way up.
On the international scene, women’s play has also improved, and FIBA just concluded a Year of Women’s Basketball in Europe – highlighted by a stacked Russian club team beating a version of USA Basketball’s National Team.
Sure, Sylvia Fowles dunked this week, but much more important is the slow but steady improvement in all players at all levels of the game.
The coaches are better. Back in the day, a high school coach with a basic understanding of defensive principles could be successful; now high school teams, even those without great talent, can play multiple defenses, and a coach who doesn’t have her team fully prepared can get thumped.
But that doesn’t happen all that often, because the coaches have improved. They also have a better grasp of fundamentals, though this is one area where both players and coaches still have a ways to go. Nonetheless, today’s players at least know what the fundamentals are – whether they execute them properly all the time is another story.
Coaches are also less likely to be screamers, another positive sign. There are still plenty of jerks out there, to be sure, but the number appears to be going down, especially compared to, say, 15 years ago.
There are more fans. There’s no way to measure high school attendance, but anecdotally, it seems there are a few more bodies now than there were a decade ago; but there are many, many more than in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.
At the college level, attendance is on a slow but steady rise. The numbers creep up a little each season, a testament to the quality of play and the increasing awareness of athletic directors that women’s basketball can generate income and interest.
The WNBA just expanded to 14 teams, and though attendance isn’t what the league’s owners would like, it’s much more than people believed was possible in the early ‘90s. The WNBA has shown that women’s professional basketball can draw 6,000 or more fans on a nightly basis during the summer – and that’s no small feat.
Television ratings are also inching upwards, reflecting the improvement in the quality of play. Half the TV audience for the WNBA is male, an acknowledgement that the basketball is good enough to watch, even if men don’t show up to the arenas in the same numbers.
A message from the basketball gods. In a final positive note, Hope beat Defiance on Wednesday, 93-70 in MIAA action– which should be a lesson to us all.
In the early days, supporters of women’s basketball had to fight for every advance, for every minute of gym time. Now, though there are still battles to be won, there’s less need for defiance – and a lot more reason for hope.
So enjoy your Thanksgiving, watch Stanford and UConn tonight on Fox Sports, and most important, get out to see one of your local college or high school teams soon. That’s the best and most direct way to help women’s basketball get better.