Like many things there are more than one factor involved, I believe this is where the competitive balance equation that also included things like $s and a tradition factor comes into play. Let's face it, softball has one of the highest athlete responsible for equipment cost factors of any HS sport and this should be taken into account when deciding Leagues and Divisions. Also, because there are a lack of high level HS teams in Ohio some of the best programs are magnets for the better players and have the support systems in place that includes better coaching & facilities; to me it looks like the same names appear every year at the top of the heap in this sport than any other.
There is also the weather factor; some girls, especially in NEO, just don't want to deal with cold and snow in the early part of the season. Then at the back end of the season are key once in a lifetime right of passage events that bubble up during the post season, prom, graduation, and graduation parties that always seem to be in conflict. This means only girls heavily invested in the sport seem to play and you lose the athletes that take a good volleyball or basketball team and make them that much better. In a perfect world I would make softball and baseball follow the golf calendar and start play in early August with state championship played in late October with soccer moved to the spring. But then again these club calendars are set and as we all know this is the real deal when it comes to these sports and not the HS teams.
There really isn't anything on here that can't compare with other girls sports and I don't want this to turn into a gender thing, but we still continue to pound the drum of equality in numbers and opportunities and it just isn't there, it never has been. I've often said that girls athletic peak for MOST, not ALL is from about age 10-15, 16 years old. When alot of girls get to their junior years, if they've played sports year around for 6-7,8-10 years, many are just done. They want to hang out with friends, have boyfriends, go to parties, drive cars, have jobs. Yes, the really good programs can string along some of the less committed because of the success rate. But when you see a program starting to tank, it's like rats running off a sinking ship. A good program can go bad in a the matter of year or two.
As for softball, it's a skill, like basketball, In 2021, if you want to compete at a high level. picking up your glove in February and putting it away in June isn't going to cut it. It takes alot of years to hone the skills to be a successful softball player. So in high school now, the gap between the really good softball programs and the programs who are begging kids to learn the game as juniors and seniors is as high as ever, and it shows in the scores and the records.
Also consider that there simply are not THAT many athletic girls in your school. The more you split up the group between, soccer, volleyball, basketball, track, softball, some lacrosse in places and there just isn't enough athletes to cover the sports, or at least be good at them.
