Kate Albaugh – No Cut Sports Don’t Help Kids
The lack of consistent policy throughout Cathedral Athletics allows for sports like football to include over 10% of the student population on their Varsity roster. This is not only harmful to the players in these massive no-cut sports, as well as athletes in other sports.
The problem with these monster-rosters is the time. If there are 8 or 9 people in a position, in a game only one or two players will actually see the field. Those other 7 or 8 players still show up to practices, conditioning, and everything else but aren’t valued the same. In that group there might be some underclassmen that are waiting their turn, who will eventually be the top one or two, but even that only justifies 2 benchwarmers a position.
Not only does this waste their time but also the time of kids that actually play. They have to split time with people who don’t see that field, time where they could be getting better at something and making the team better.
Non-cut sports harm athletes in other sports as well. For example, Girls Golf – a no cut sport- has a Junior Varsity as well as a Varsity team. Being no-cut a player would automatically make Junior Varsity. Whereas in a sport like Volleyball – a cut sport – a player could show up to every open gym, practice, and conditioning day and still not make the freshman team. If a Volleyball player were to work their way up to the next level it would be an accomplishment, however, the Volleyball player who worked hard for their position would be given the same title as the Golf player who only showed up for tryouts.
Ali Zink, Class of 2027 and JV gold player said, “It’s completely not fair, I kind of wish there was a way for kids to play without the pressure of being on a team with kids that have college coaches watching, but also kids that showed up a week before we started. ”
The No-Cut policy would be more accepted at Cathedral if it were school wide, but because it only happens in some sports, it’s harmful. Many schools adopt Intramural Sport leagues, or sports teams made from one school that only play teams from that school. It would allow for the bench players to actually play the sport they like, with less pressure, It would allow for Cut sports players to have valid accomplishments, and it would allow for actual players to get the practice time they need.
Ben Kauffman – Let Everyone Play
High school sports are for most the peak of an athletic career. Playing for a high school team whether it’s football, basketball, or tennis is some people’s favorite memories of school. Often being on a team will make friendships last for years. Making all sports a cut sport would take these opportunities away for many students.
Having all sports be no cut doesn’t have to take away from the winning culture in sports at Cathedral. Teams can still compete to win state and have the best teams possible without having to cut kids. There are JV teams for a reason and these should provide opportunities for all students to play.
At Cathedral teams have a realistic chance every year to compete for the state championship. There are great athletes on the teams that every year consistently go on to play at the next level in college. These kids definitely deserve to play on varsity and compete at the highest level in high school.
However, with the amount of great athletes at Cathedral having cuts would be difficult for kids at Cathedral that don’t have the ability to play in college. Many kids that get cut at Cathedral would have the chance to play for plenty of other schools around the city. Because of this athletes at Cathedral should be able to at least compete at the JV level no matter what with how talented the top athletes at Cathedral are.
Playing sports in high school is an opportunity for people to remember their whole lives. People remember their teammates, the practices, the coaches and the environment of being on a team. Yes people will remember the plays and games they won, but more often than not people remember being with their teammates and friends.
Junior Michael Gallagher said, “Playing baseball at Cathedral has given me some of my favorite memories and I’ve met some of my closest friends through it. With cuts not everyone would have the same chances that I’ve had.”
Even if kids aren’t going to play very much they should have the opportunity to be on a team with their friends. Cutting all sports would end the opportunity for so many students to play for a team in high school. While varsity teams should be kept for just the best athletes that can compete for state titles, JV teams should be able to take kids so they have the opportunity to play a sport in high school.
