At the start of the 2018-19 sports program, a new policy that allows juniors and seniors to be on Junior Varsity (JV) teams was set.
Some students had mixed thoughts about the policy and how it affects the teams along with their competitive season.
Bear River’s Athletic Director, Scott Savoie, described the reasoning behind this rule.
“In a lot of situations, kids will only play their freshman and sophomore years, because they know that, once they get to their junior and senior year, they’re not going to be good enough to make the varsity team,” Mr. Savoie said.
Senior Marie-Claire Desplancke explained how the new policy benefited her, being a senior allowed to tryout for JV.
“Maybe they’re not fit, especially myself … they might not be able to play varsity, but they still want to play, so they could play for JV,” she said.
Senior Ashley Darr said that she relates to Desplancke’s statement.
“It makes sense, because I haven’t played two years of [water] polo yet … if I wasn’t on JV, I would probably get crushed.”
Junior Grace McDaniel explained the difference between playing on either team.
“Generally, varsity is a lot more stressful, and there’s a lot more that goes into it, but JV is a lot easier to have fun and to play with friends.”
Mr. Savoie explained a benefit the policy provides.
“If you’re a senior and you’re not as athletically gifted as somebody else, this rule still gives you a chance to play,” he said.
Desplancke explained how some Bruins may be able to take advantage of the new policy.
“There’s some girls in basketball that don’t want to do varsity, they’re just, like, ‘I’m not ready for that type of pressure,’ so they stay on JV to continue to build their skills,” she said.
Desplancke explained how she felt about the policy finally being implemented.
“I think this change should have happened, in my opinion, a little bit sooner, because, I mean, when you think of junior varsity, I always thought juniors can be allowed on the team, but its not [like that],” she said.
McDaniel explained how she felt about it.
“I think the change should have happened a long time ago, but I just think it’s important that it happened now,” said McDaniel. “I think that, since everyone’s given the same opportunities, it’s not unfair,” said McDaniel.
Desplancke explained why it may give the JV team an advantage over other schools.
“I think it gives them a slight bit of an advantage because juniors and seniors tend to be, not always, but tend to be a little bit more on the skilled side,” she said.
Coach Savoie explained the overall purpose of the policy.
“I think it’s one of those rules that isn’t really going to be misused because anybody that deserves to be on varsity is going to be,” he said. “This is gonna develop an opportunity for kids that maybe wouldn’t have been able to play if the rule isn’t in place.”
