Female participation in sports (especially basketball) has grown.  It is said that girls are supposed to be the future of basketball. The most dramatic increase is in girls, ages 6-11 which has grown by 86%. The total amount of girls participating in basketball in 1996-1997 was 447,687 throughout the world. The number of women and student athletes in varsity teams continues to grow. The number of women's teams per NCAA school reached an all-time high  of 7.71 in the year of 1998.