City and Private Middle School Athletes
Are they playing on different turfs?
December 7, 2017
Have you ever wondered why C.H.S. seems to consistently excel in certain sports while others haven’t been able to excel at the same level? The answer may lie in the preparation of athletes prior to coming to Charlottesville High School. Access to sports teams at the middle school level is best way to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to experience all the positives that sports can bring, not only one the individual student’s level, but for the school community as a whole.
While there are sports programs at Buford Middle school, such as, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, fencing (club sport), football, softball, step, swimming, tennis (club sport), track, wrestling, and volleyball, there are certain disparities between what’s offered in middle school and the sports that become important in high school, like lacrosse, Field Hockey, Golf and Soccer. While there are sports opportunities that have thus far served in place of school-sponsored sports at the recreational, challenge, and travel levels within the Charlottesville community, through private programs such as S.O.C.A. or M.O.N.U., these programs aren’t necessarily accessible to all families for a myriad of reasons, such as financial and travel capabilities,the ability of parents to commit time to being involved in their children’s sport endeavors, or even the connections necessary to join a recreational club that is sponsored by another school in the area.
The sports programs at Charlottesville, such as track and basketball, have consistently and historically excelled due to the fact that there has been a supportive community in place to encourage athletic success. This includes middle school sports programs existing, capable and dedicated coaches, opportunities for outside growth. If there is no basis for athletes to find the very basic tools for growth, there can be little to no future success for them personally and for C.H.S. The most important issue at hand is access, because without access there can be no level playing field for all students. These school-incorporated programs, the sports that are offered at both the middle school and the highschool level, have given all athletes from all backgrounds the ability to find a sport they can become passionate about, and without this unfettered access, might not have discovered anyways.
Many students come into Charlottesville with no prior experience in the sport they want to play and their freshman year is the first time they have had the opportunity to play that sport. While high school should be a time for growth and the expansion of one’s horizon, why should it be the first opportunities that students to expand their athletic horizons? “ I found it quite difficult to get involved in field hockey, because prior to playing on CHS’s JV team, there is no Buford field hockey team, there is no AGFHL team associated with Buford, which made finding some way to play really difficult. The same goes for soccer, there’s no Buford affiliated team. Currently, there isn’t even a swim coach for Buford so there is no team that can practice.” says Lily Kate Sweeney, a current 8th grader at Buford Middle School. The sentiment seems to reflect across the spectrum of middle school and high school athletes.
In addition to not releasing their potential for athletic endeavors, students who wish to play beyond the highschool level, have limited exposure to organizations that can help them be recruited by Universities and Colleges. The athletes who get “discovered” by these institutions of higher learning are athletes who have had access to formative athletic development such as travel teams, sports teams at the middle school level and below. Without these essential methods for athletic growth, fewer dreams of playing beyond the highschool level, can turn into reality.
