Sustainability and future goals

The goal for the girls soccer and cross country programs, as well as girls sports in general, is to maintain growth, continue to succeed and offer the benefits of sports to women. Sustainability is important for maintaining the success of the girls cross country and girls soccer teams. Without an athlete pool to continually draw from, the sports would be faced again with challenges and dwindling numbers.

Sustainability and keeping up numbers is important for the girls cross country team, according to Jordan.

“I definitely think that we’re going to be able to sustain [the program]. Our coach was recently talking to us about what the team was like a couple years ago. When he first started, there were barely any girls on the team and now how much has changed,” Jordan said.

Girls sports are still experiencing growth, especially since the opportunities for female athletes have greatly improved since the start of these programs. Girls’ access to sports and the benefits of sports culture has been a fairly recent development when compared to boys’ sports.

MacVeagh said the growth of the girls soccer program will never be complete and, as a coach, it is imperative to maintain the program for years into the future.

“It’s a constant, ongoing thing. When this group graduates, the 6th graders are going to be 12th graders. And so are they going to be good enough to win their state championship?” MacVeagh said. “I think you need to build a culture but the culture, to some degree, is self-sustaining but, to another degree, it constantly needs another group of people to bring energy into it.”

According to Sprague, the introduction of girls sports into the mainstream has allowed girls the opportunity to become involved in team sports.

“Group dynamics are all around us. They’re in every aspect of our lives, whether it’s our careers, whether it’s school or it’s families. And so that’s just real life, so why shouldn’t girls benefit from having the opportunities to learn and grow in those dynamics in sports? I can’t imagine a world where girls didn’t have that opportunity,” Sprague said.

Fagnan said participation in sports provides a multitude of benefits for girls.

“I think that there’s a lot of times where girls will feel like they should just quit or do something else, but I think encouraging girls to get involved in sports can be really great for their confidence and for life skills for the future,” Fagnan said. “I think there’s lots of things that you can learn from it even if you’re just doing it for a year.”