Girls soccer is pretty big in Utah. But kids play what brings them enjoyment and fulfillment.

Girls that go in to sports don't do it for popularity like some boys might. They'd go into cheerleading if that's what they were after.

Female pole vaulting is getting LOTS of support in Cal thanks to Allison Stokke. I hear she is quite talented...

http://www.mrdaz.com/wp-content/uplo...y070601026.jpg

I suppose if your primary motivation was to play in front of a lot of people and hear a crowd cheer for you, then yes, it would be depressing. But if you are playing because you love the game and enjoy competing, then it is not that big of a deal.

When I was in grad school at Texas, the Lady Longhorns had gone something like 12 years without a conference loss. They were averaging 13-14000 fans per game. More than the mens' team at the time.

200 fans per game might be a bit of a stretch. I don't really know. It certainly depends on the program. Here are the top 20 programs from last year. Note that New Mexico averages almost 10,000.

2007 Women’s Basketball Attendance Leaders
DIVISION I

Rk. School G Attendance Average

1. Tennessee 16 234,845 14,678
2. Connecticut 22 237,642 10,802
3. Texas Tech 14 149,351 10,668
4. Oklahoma 12 125,247 10,437
5. New Mexico 15 143,729 9,582
6. Maryland 16 152,523 9,533
7. Iowa St. 16 142,498 8,906
8. Purdue 14 106,184 7,585
9. Michigan St. 18 115,001 6,389
10. Notre Dame 16 101,818 6,364
11. Baylor 19 119,603 6,295
12. Minnesota 17 101,030 5,943
13. Duke 14 81,921 5,852
14. Kentucky 15 86,941 5,796
15. Penn St. 13 75,102 5,777
16. Wisconsin 20 114,406 5,720
17. LSU 15 83,593 5,573
18. Missouri St. 15 81,286 5,419
19. Texas 18 90,783 5,044
20. Ohio St. 17 85,011 5,001

Well, I am basing that on the fact that she plays in the top league in the state and I would rank her as one of the top five players in the league. But she is only in 6th grade. There are probably lots of other good players out there that just haven't started competing yet. Time will tell. But she is having a blast, and that is the main thing.

If she lived in Texas, when school basketball started, she would be blown away by all the poor kids that never played in any leagues.

I read some articles about rich daddy's in Texas and other places with wannabe kids that suck that start AAU teams and stack the team with said poor kids and "pay" them and their parents with all kind of perks.

No doubt about it. Everything is bigger and better in Texas.

I'm saying that Utah doesn't have a large poor black community that doesn't participate in all the rich-kids' leagues.

Which is why Utah, for the most part, does not produce standout athletes on a national level.

Where do you go to harvest the best athletes in the nation? Florida, California, Texas.

Oh we all get your point, Mike. No need to clarify.

And FWIW, the cost for playing on my team is about $50 per kid. Plus $24 for the uniform. It's hardly a "rich-kids' league".