Data derived via questionnaire from a black and white female subsample (N=1,670) of Louisiana high school seniors were utilized to test eight hypotheses which addressed the relationship between athletic participation and female achievement orientations. School type (public-parochial), residence (rural-urban), and school size (large-small) were criteria employed for the selected high schools. The variables employed were: sex; race; father's and mother's education; father's occupation; occupational and educational aspirations; significant other influence; academic performance; athletic behavior; parental achievement socialization; materialistic achievement orientation; and deferred gratification. Results indicated that interscholastic athletic participation was not strongly related to achievement orientations of both black and white females. All variables evaluated exhibited relatively weak relationships, and no major associations between achievement orientation and athletic participation were found. One major "serendipitous" finding was that black females, both athletes and nonathletes, had stronger materialistic orientations and were more willing to defer gratification for future career achievements than their white counterparts. (JC)