By Greg DeVillers

February 10th, 2008

Grand Forks Herald

Kevin Sommer has dealt with a numbers crunch this winter.

The Cavalier High School coach has only 15 girls in grades 9-12 playing on his girls basketball team. While the team posted a 5-14 regular-season record, Sommer said there were students in the stands at every game who could have helped his team had they chosen to play.

“There are girls, good athletes, who aren't playing,” Sommer said. “And it's not just here. Whenever they get together, coaches are talking about it. A lot of us feel that kids don't feel it's worth the effort any more. It's a lot of extra work to be involved in athletics.” Sommer's team isn't alone. The Cavalier boys basketball team had only 16 high school students in its program, while the Tornadoes have 20 high school wrestlers in that program.

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