(ABC 6 News) — Even as Caitlin Clark inspires young girls all across the nation to join women’s sports, and specifically basketball, it is reaching the young girls. Not the ones in high school

“Caitlyn Clark has done amazing things for girls basketball, for women’s athletes all around the world and especially in Iowa, a lot of focus on that. and she became the player she was because of the work she put in at a young age.”

Sue Hoefer has seen the “Caitlin Clark Effect” as much as anyone else, but as a high school coach, the numbers still were not there. One of the issues that caused the end of a varsity season, but the team did not take it as you might expect.

“people are just asking me like, is it true you guys don’t have a varsity? like that’s horrible. that’s so sad for you guys. i’m like, no, it’s actually good. it’s good that we can compete more with our opponents and it just be more of a better experience and more joyful for us,” said Evelyn Mayhew. The only returning player with any varsity experience as a Junior.

After graduating an entire starting lineup and seeing a dip in numbers, the Comets became the largest of five Iowa schools to call off their girls varsity basketball season.

After having just 4 wins in their past 5 years and just one returning player with varsity experience the comets are happy competing at a junior varsity level.

Coach Hoefer said, “I’ve been in the district for quite a while and we’ve had to pull freshmen up to a varsity level when they’re not ready so we can field a varsity team, and then they get out there and they don’t have success. They kind of get beat up on, and then a lot of them have not come out.”

Now that is where the focus is for the Comets, as they get ready to join a new conference next season with a new set of role models for the future of comet girls basketball.

With this group of players like Mayhew ready to lead the charge, “Growing up here, I looked up to so many girls when just watching the high school games, even if it was JV, I still looked up to those girls and I wanted to play at their level, so it’s nice being able to do that now.”

Iowa is not the only state seeing a drop in varsity girls basketball, there have also been a few high schools in Nebraska who called off their seasons, but safe to say to future at Charles City is in good hands.