Discussion of Inquiry Topic

               My inquiry is formed around the question: Why are there more women’s volleyball teams than men’s teams? I chose this topic because I have been involved with the sport at a competitive level for 4 years and the question has always bothered me on some level. As a high schooler, I played in a relatively dense area for good volleyball, but had I lived 20 miles, I would have had none. I consider myself lucky to have been in the situation, but it sparks the question: Why did I have to be lucky. Many schools carry girl’s teams, but not men’s teams and hardly, if ever, is the converse true. I am not sure why I seek the answer now except for the fact that the project presents a good outlet to follow through with it. I suppose that if a wild result comes through via research and analysis, I would share it with the world somehow, but if nothing novel strikes my interest, I will probably leave it as is. Having played for many years prior, I have significant bias in my head and my opinion is definitely charged. I already have my own views as a player who tried to get into a college program and the hope that was diminished when I found out the shockingly low amount of teams that exist at the college level. It always intrigued me how the Olympic teams were both equally good, even though there were significantly more players to choose from for the women’s team than there were for the men’s team. I wanted to keep my story inside the high school and college level, where there is the largest difference in terms of the numbers of players, so I am gathering the opinions and stories of my past teammates.