For most high school age male athletes everybody, “most popular with cheerleaders” is a well reasoned and time honored measure of success. always going to be more attractive than "least popular with cheerleaders". People aren't dreaming of being secretary of the AV club, they are the quarterback leading their team to a last minute victory, or the basketball player hitting a buzzer-beater to beat their school's cross-town rival. And yes - some of them may even be dreaming of scoring a soccer goal. It's just silly to actually believe that they are equivalent in quantity in the US, and it's just as silly to believe that the lack of popularity doesn't hurt the chances of continuing to find the very best athletes needed.