When Bob Allard became girls basketball coach at Lake Zurichseven years ago, his team won four games. The Bears have lost onlytwice this season and star player Lisa Foss is the No. 1 scorer inthe Chicago area and one of the most celebrated players in the state.
Despite these successes, few girls come out for the basketballteam. Allard is not the only coach faced with the problem, however. Several suburban schools are struggling to fill freshman, juniorvarsity and varsity rosters, sometimes having to drop a level becauseof lack of interest.
Coaches cite several possible reasons for the problem: Weak programs at the junior high school level and poor communicationwith them. Interest in sports isn't as high among girls as it used to be. High turnover among lower level coaches. Budget cuts.
Lake Zurich used to have freshman, junior varsity and varsityteams. The freshman team was dropped two years ago, victim of abudget cut. When the school wanted to reinstate the program, thereweren't enough girls to fill three teams. None of last year'ssophomore starters returned.
'The interest in sports isn't as high for girls as it used tobe,' Allard said. 'I saw the trend start about five years ago.When Title IX was passed {in 1972}, it was new. Sports wassomething girls could never do before. But it's not new any moreand there are a lot of opportunities open to girls.
'They make decisions as early as seventh grade about whether they're going to be a cheerleader or a gymnast or a basketballplayer. A lot of times being a basketball player isn't as popularas something else.
'They are not willing to put the time in. I expect them to goto summer camps and play in leagues. They get in the program for ayear or two and drop out. By the time they're juniors, they candrive a car, they get jobs, dating gets heavier and basketball takesup too much time.'
Lake Zurich players agree with Allard. 'They have to do what their friends do,' Foss said. 'Theydon't want to be called a jock all the time.'
They also suggested if girls' sports received more recognition,more girls might want to participate.
'It's a social event to go to a boys' game,' senior Liz Ewingsaid. 'Last year, we were undefeated and just the parents came towatch. The guys had the worst season they've had in 10 years and thestands were full.'
Allard said one way to keep girls interested is to start at thejunior high level. Basketball programs begin in sixth grade but one ofAllard's complaints is the schools don't communicate with each other.
Recently, Allard and the community's junior high coachesdiscussed ways to cooperate, like having junior high players come tovarsity games and Allard helping the junior highs with practicedrills. 'Whatever we start now, it still will be a long time beforewe see the benefits,' Allard said.
Highland Park coach Tom O'Donnell can empathize with Allard. He dropped the junior varsitythis season because he didn't have enough girls to play. In1986-87, the school will drop the varsity program for at least oneyear but will compete at the jayvee and freshman levels.
'We don't feel we are competitive,' O'Donnell said. 'Our aim isto have our kids competing at an appropriate level and for them tofeel good about it. We need more experience and skill development.'
'It is difficult to play a varsity schedule with a team whichhas jayvee skills,' said athletic director Jim Swanson. 'The kidsunderstand the situation. Their feelings are mixed. The olderkids have more to lose and the younger kids have more to gain bytaking this step.'
'I don't have the kids coming out,' said O'Donnell. 'Thecommunity is more interested in individual sports for girls - tennis,gymnastics and swimming. There are many outlets for girls otherthan sports - plays, chorus, pom-pon.
'The image for a boy is to be good in sports. But a girl inbasketball doesn't get that kind of recognition. The problem atthis school is an image problem, even to the point of being negative. They don't like being a jock.'
Like Allard, O'Donnell believes interest must be triggered atthe junior high level. He said the junior high programs in his areado not spark interest among girls. There also is a high turnoveramong coaches.
'For any high school to be suc cessful,' O'Donnell said, 'you have to have the image early thatit's OK to play basketball and still be feminine.'
Financial woes led Wauconda to drop a team, combining thefreshmen and sophomores into a junior varsity. It is speculated,however, if more girls had been interested, school officials mighthave found a way to keep the team. When it was dropped, seven-yearvarsity coach Lee Oler quit.
'Early, when the big thing was Title IX, a lot of girls weretrying sports,' Oler said. 'But now sports is worn out. Camps used to bebig. I'd get 10 or 15 players. But then I was lucky to get two orthree. The girls have either got jobs or other things to do.
'If we had had more numbers, the school might have tried harderto keep the team. I'm not blaming it on the school completely.It's just a change in trends. Two years ago, were were 29-2 and wewent to the supersectional. Last year, we were 20-5 but I had toscrape to get players.'
Like Lake Zurich and Highland Park, Wauconda doesn't have astrong junior high program. Oler said they play about eight gamesin a season. He agreed a strong junior high program may be the keyto stirring interest among girls.
Coaches who succeed in persuading girls to try out for theirhigh school programs also work to stir interest among junior highplayers. At New Trier, 60 girls tried out for three teams thisseason. Last year, 100 tried out.
'Any program that works at it will be successful,' New Triercoach John Schneiter said. 'If the coaches are really dedicated andwork hard, and if the kids know they're interested, they'll want toplay the sport. It's not winning and losing that's success butknowing the coaches are trying as hard as they can.'
Schneiter sends a letter to every girl that made her junior highteam to congratulate her and invite her to attend high school gamesfree of charge. He also attends junior high games to get to knowthe players and coaches.
'The earlier the interest, the better,' he said. 'They knowwe're interested in them as people, not just as players. The letteremphasizes good grades and good citizenship and, if they are lucky,they can play basketball. New Trier hasn't had a problem gettingnumbers out for the sport.'
York also is successful is attracting players and coach DonHudgens attributes much of his success to the junior high programsand the relationship the high school has with them. He visits thejunior highs often. This season, York had 75 girls come out forfive teams.
'We work very hard to develop a positive relationship withthem,' Hudgens said. 'We feel it's our responsibility to help in anyway we can. Anything we can do for them will be reflected in ourprogram later. We have a good line of communication because we workat it.'
At Maine West, 80 girls tried out for three teams. A fourthteam will be added next year. For the last three summers, the DesPlaines school has run a three-day-a-week program for elementary andjunior high girls. Both of coach Derril Kipp's assistants arejunior high coaches.
'We've had a lot of success but success doesn't happy by justhaving kids play,' Kipp said. 'It takes quite a while to build aprogram. But if you look at some of the teams that are good, you'llnotice they are good every year. You can't just rest on yourlaurels. You have to keep on top of it.'
