Introduction:

                This project is designed to teach you how to think spatially in relationship to sports.   When studying any concept from the spatial perspective, one must answer two basic questions:  Where and Why?  Geographers often answer these questions using statistics and mapping the results.  Rooney use an index method base on the per-capital ratio number of players divided by the total population of a given geographic area called location quotient.  Bale suggests this method is as near as one can find at determining an objective regionalism in sports.  In this project, you will each choose a high school sport, collect participation and population data and construct a regional map using the location quotient method.

Step One:

                Using data from NFHS (pdf on D2L), gather data on the number of high school participation.  Use this data to calculate the Location Quotient for each state.  Use the following formula.  Everyone will complete an analysis of Boys Ice Hockey, Boys Lacrosse, and two sports of your choice from the approved sports list.

                                Number of Players per State                      Total Number of Players in the Nation

LQ =       ______________________           /        _______________________________

                Total Enrollment per state                           National Enrollment Total

Step Two:

                Upon completion of the Location Quotients, construct a choropleth map using 4-5 classes (quartiles/quintiles).  Use proper cartographic shading techniques.  The U.S. outline map is provided.  If you have computer mapping skills, you need to use them.

Step Three:

                Create line graphs showing the trends in male, female, and total participation numbers since 1971-72.

Step Four:

                Study the spatial distribution for your sports.  Do you see any regional patterns of high and low participation?  If so, where are they and why do you think they exist.  Also examine the changes in total participation rates for males, females, and overall.   Write a 3 page paper describing your findings.