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The number of females participating in public high school sports in Prince George's County rose by nearly 2 percent during the 2010-11 school year, a positive step after a marked decline in female participation over the past decade.

But with limited youth feeder programs in some sports, and with the elimination of middle school sports by Prince George's Schools starting this fall, female participation numbers at the high school level face an uncertain future.

According to statistics from the Prince George's Schools Office of Interscholastic Athletics, 3,244 girls participated last school year in the 11 varsity sports offered by the school system, an increase of 58 over the previous two school years, but still not enough to offset a drop of 547 between the 2004-05 and 2008-09 school years. The number of girls playing high school sports in the county lags behind the number of boys, which totaled 4,527 participants in 2010-11.

“Female participation has increased, but it's still not where we would like it to be,” said Prince George's County Director of Athletics Earl Hawkins. “Females make up approximately 50 percent of enrollment and we would like to see the overall participation numbers in athletics somewhere near that although football skews that on the boys' side because of the large number of players on a roster.”

Participation in soccer saw a significant increase, with 431 girls playing in 2010-11, up from 384 in 2009-10. Volleyball also saw a sizeable gain of 61 during 2010-11.

In the 2005-06 school year, 307 girls participated in softball, a sharp decline from the 540 participants in the previous school year. But since that time, participation in the sport has consistently been at more than 500 with a high of 584 softball players in 2009-10.

Finding feeder teams

With a thriving network of numerous basketball and track clubs for youth and high school athletes, Prince George's County has a reputation for strong high school teams in those sports. But the feeder programs in girls' softball, volleyball and soccer are less extensive in the county, and the feeder system took a hit when the school system canceled funding for its middle school athletic program, which included soccer and softball teams. The elimination of middle school teams was part of a package of school budget cuts necessitated by a $140 million shortfall in the $1.69 billion fiscal 2012 budget. Cutting middle school sports saved an estimated $800,000.

Hawkins said the middle school programs helped improve participation at the high school level, but he is optimistic that elimination of those teams won't lead to a decline in the high school numbers.

“I would hope not, I don't foresee that,” Hawkins said. “We hope that we can maintain the current level of participation by informing students of the different sports that are offered.”

The county has just two travel softball clubs, the Bowie Blue Jays and the Marlboro Mustangs. The Blue Jays, in their second year, have 13-and-under and 15-and-under teams and are forming a U-12 team. Blue Jays President Nelson Grillo concedes that softball is not the most popular girls' sport in the county, but he also is confident that interest in softball is growing.

“I think the popularity of other sports has some effect on interest in our sport,” Grillo said. “The general popularity of softball hasn't been strong in P.G. County. For example, AAU basketball is dominant and draws a lot of players that play year-round. There are other sports such as soccer that more and more players are playing in the spring. We have seen a great response to our teams. I'm optimistic about the future of the sport in the county.”

Volleyball has an even smaller base of feeder programs in the county than soccer or softball. It was not part of the middle school sports program, and there is only one club team based in the county. Yet high school volleyball teams consistently draw players. Over the past three years, 1,231 girls played high school volleyball in county public schools, second to only softball.

Bowie-based Kinetic Volleyball Club is the lone club program based exclusively in Prince George's County and had six teams this past season competing in age groups from U-12 through U-18. The club's director, Tim Reilly, said the sport faces challenges.

“There's very little recreational volleyball where girls can get started in the county,” Reilly said. “That's an area that's really lacking in the county. It's also a question of gym time and the season coinciding with basketball. If you could find low-cost space, you could probably set up a recreational league. The sport is difficult for really young kids to pick up, unlike soccer and basketball.”

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Prince George's County Boys and Girls Club offer some opportunities for girls to play softball and soccer. The M-NCPPC has a girls' fast-pitch instructional softball league in September and October with U-14 and U-18 divisions and draws between 22 and 26 teams annually. M-NCPPC Sports Coordinator Jane Martin said approximately 60 percent of the teams that participate are based in Prince George's County.

“It's a very low-cost way for the girls to play during the offseason at about $200 [per team],” said Martin, who added that M-NCPPC also offers spring and fall soccer leagues for girls.

The PGCBGC has girls' soccer league for players ages 8 to 14. There were 16 girls' teams in the PGCBGC recreational soccer spring league, all of which were comprised of county residents.

“In particular, the girls' soccer is on the upswing a little bit,” said PGCBGC Program Specialist Hugh Cottington. “We're starting to get more girls' teams that can compete. In the past, when we wouldn't have enough girls' teams to compete, we would combine, say, a U-10 girls' team with a U-9 boys team. We've pretty much gotten enough girls' teams to compete in each age group. It's still modest gains though, nothing dramatic.”

The PGCBGC had 24 softball teams in four age groups from U-10 through U-16 in its recreational spring league, but PGCBGC Program Specialist John Love said the number of teams has declined over the years and is “not getting larger.”

The M-NCPPC has a high school-aged volleyball program, but Martin indicated that program has not had any participation over the past several years. Meanwhile, the PGCBGC leaves the coordination of volleyball leagues up to the individual clubs.

Slowly making strides

With limited feeder programs in girls' soccer, volleyball and softball, county high school coaches in those sports often find themselves teaching the fundamentals. Prince George's County teams have won only one state volleyball championship (DuVal in 1980) and one state girls' soccer title (Eleanor Roosevelt in 2003). Bowie and Roosevelt won state softball titles in the 1980s, and Surrattsville won five state softball titles in that decade, the last of which came in 1989. The county hasn't had a state softball champion since.

Prince George's teams often compile strong records against other teams from the county, but falter when they reach the playoffs and face teams from other areas of the state with stronger feeder programs. Bowie High, a perennial power in county softball, is 39-3 with two 4A South Region championships in the past two seasons. But the first time the Bulldogs came up against teams from outside the county in the Class 4A state semifinals they were shut out each time, 12-0 by Urbana this year and 16-0 by Sherwood in 2010.

Charles H. Flowers High School softball coach Molly Bender, whose team lost 12-0 to Broadneck in the 2009 state semifinals, said roughly half of the girls in her program “have minimal experience.” Bender said the elimination of middle school sports and the county's academic eligibility standards could pose problems for future softball participation. County high school athletes must have a 2.0 grade-point average with no failing grades in order to remain eligible.

“I think what the athletic directors and Earl Hawkins have been trying to do is open up opportunities for kids to play,” Bender said. “They're trying to publicize a lot of things, but it comes down to what the kids want to do, and many have other activities or sports they're involved in.”

Flowers sophomore Zakiyyah Brown plays for the Springdale school's softball team and is a part of the Bowie Blue Jays U-15 squad. She has been playing softball since she was 10. Brown said basketball and soccer are the most popular sports in her circle of friends.

“I think middle school sports being shut down will hurt participation because in high school it helps to have experience,” Brown said. “If kids don't have money to play for clubs, they don't have other options. I do think that sports like softball are getting more popular because they're advertising more. We're gaining a lot more interest in a lot of sports.”

In 2006 and 2007, the Prince George's Schools made physical improvements to all of the county's high school softball fields as part of an agreement with the National Women's Law Center, which supports equal rights and amenities for girls and women in schools and workplaces. Softball umpire Jack Mowatt, commissioner of the Amateur Softball Association's Maryland/Washington, D.C. chapter, compiled a report on unsafe conditions at the county's softball fields that led to the school system's agreement with the NWLC.

NWLC Senior Counsel for Education and Employment Neena Chaudhry said it is “unfortunate for the kids” that the county cut its middle school sports program.

“I think in particular for girls, there's lots of data indicating that they start playing sports later than boys,” Chaudhry said. “Once they get to high school, there's a big dropoff in activity level for girls. I think for all kids, and especially for girls, the sooner you can get active in sports, the better. I hope they can bring back middle school sports soon. Eliminating those crucial middle school years will be very unfortunate.”

Without middle school sports, Hawkins said there are a few key steps the school system should take to keep female participation numbers rising.

“We'll just have to continue to hire female coaches,” Hawkins said. “That could have a bearing on it. If girls see female coaches, that gives them good role models. We have to have quality coaches for girls' sports. We also need to actively recruit females within the schools to play sports.”

thampton@gazette.net