SPORTS OF THE FUTURE: GIRLS ATHLETICS WILL CONTINUE TO BOOM IN THE YEARS AHEAD

Athletic opportunities for girls will continue to expand, creating greater equity between girls and boys programs.

"There is no doubt in my mind you will see more and more girls programs," said Terry Kitchen, athletic director at Cape Girardeau Central High School.

Female participation in athletics has increased steadily in recent decades and that trend looks like it will continue.

Women's sports at the college and Olympic levels continue to draw more fans and attention, even leading to the formation of some women's professional leagues.

That has trickled down to the high school level, where female athletes have more opportunities now than ever. The major addition to many athletic programs has been girls soccer, which Cape Central, Jackson High School and Notre Dame High School all added last year.

But new programs are not limited to girls sports. Boys soccer continues to grow in popularity and expand to different schools and boys volleyball is also taking hold in many areas.

Terry Flannigan, athletic director at Scott City High School, said football, basketball, baseball and softball remain the four most popular programs.

However, Flannigan fears overall participation in organized sports as a whole is slipping.

With many more recreational opportunities available, many kids are opt to spend their time on other things. He also said that the high cost of maintaining automobiles and insurance drives students from the playing field and into after-school jobs.

Flannigan hopes the trend reverses.

"There are so many valuable lessons I carry from my athletic career that you can never learn in a classroom," Flannigan said.

Kevin Bohnert, athletic director at Jackson High School, said one of his prime concerns is that many of the negative aspects of professional and college athletics are starting to be seen at the high school level.

He said younger athletes are often exploited by those with financial interests. That is bad for the kids and for sports.

Kitchen said that though unfortunate, school athletic programs may have to start relying on outside sources of revenue. As more money is sought for education, athletic programs, though often less than 2 percent of a schools budget, are seen as expendable.

"Athletics is part of the total education program, but you are going to see more athletic programs have to turn to booster clubs and outside donations," Kitchen said.

Schools might even find themselves in the position of having to employ a full-time fund raiser to find revenue for athletics and other extracurricular programs.

"I don't care for the idea very much, but I can see it happening in years to come," he said.