Most high schools have made track a "no cut" sport so there is at least one sport that anybody can play. So of course track will be the most popular sport.
Soccer has the advantage of not needing a certain physical size to be able to play well, so it appeals to a wider group of girls. A short girl may feel she has a better opportunity in soccer than in volleyball or basketball.
As for why basketball is declining, my guess is it is inverse to volleyball. If a tall girl is going to focus on just one sport then she will have to choose between the two. As to why girls increasingly choose volleyball over basketball I haven't any idea.
All the talk about a sport not being "girly" enough is, in my opinion, a crock. My daughter and her friends would have been offended and turned off by that kind of talk when she was competing in high school. That said, I also think wbb has become too physical and that there are too many injuries. But I am not sure if all the ACLs in WBB makes it any worse than soccer or track, so I doubt that is a factor in the decline.
Soccer has the advantage of not needing a certain physical size to be able to play well, so it appeals to a wider group of girls. A short girl may feel she has a better opportunity in soccer than in volleyball or basketball.
As for why basketball is declining, my guess is it is inverse to volleyball. If a tall girl is going to focus on just one sport then she will have to choose between the two. As to why girls increasingly choose volleyball over basketball I haven't any idea.
All the talk about a sport not being "girly" enough is, in my opinion, a crock. My daughter and her friends would have been offended and turned off by that kind of talk when she was competing in high school. That said, I also think wbb has become too physical and that there are too many injuries. But I am not sure if all the ACLs in WBB makes it any worse than soccer or track, so I doubt that is a factor in the decline.