Typically, a high school sports team is divided into two groups of athletes, Varsity and Junior Varsity. The Varsity kids are always the ones that get the attention, with many spectators only coming to watch them. Meanwhile, the JV kids aren’t paid attention to, like Varsity is.
Some occasionally step up when Varsity is in need of an extra player, but this is the extent of the attention that they will get. With some sports, though, there is a lot of fluidity throughout the season, and JV athletes get more chances to step up to Varsity. The issue with the fluidity, though, is that there is a lot of shifting between the rosters throughout the season, which can present a lot of struggles, especially to the athletes who repeatedly get shifted around.
One of the struggles highlighted by swimmer Jillian Simmonds, who is a senior, is choosing between JV and Varsity workouts.
“It is difficult choosing which workout to do, like when we are doing stroke specific workouts and my whole lane is Varsity, I just choose to do the Varsity workout. It definitely helps to get to practice up, because that helps me improve my stroke and grow as a swimmer.” commented Simmonds.
When you are on the cusp between JV and Varsity, it can be hard to decide which workout is best for you. Training with Varsity could help the athlete improve, but training with JV means that you could be the best, which could help boost the athlete’s morale.
Cross Country runner, Sarah Nazarenus, a junior, hit on another huge struggle that these athletes face: competition.
“It’s always a struggle to compete with the people who you’re going up against for the spots on Varsity and JV. But, on JV, it’s like you’re always on the top of the pack, but on Varsity you’re in the bottom. Then you are just always competing for times and places and trying to get that spot. When you are on JV, you want to really get on that varsity spot.” said Nazarenus.
These athletes aren’t only competing with other JV athletes. They are also competing against Varsity athletes as well. This creates a lot of competition between teammates. This, combined with being the at top of the JV pack and the bottom of the Varsity one, can be very crushing to the athlete.
After all the struggles, there is one pro that comes from being this kind of athlete: there is always a drive for improvement and competitiveness. This is a good thing in the long run, as it shows determination, and could impact how the athlete is placed on the team in feature seasons.
Despite the struggles they have to face, Varsity-ish athletes certainly show a lot of grit and determination, and that is what truly sets them apart from the rest.
