Due to budget cuts, the district ponders the idea of freshmen coming up to each high school in Lawrence to create a 9-12 high school, but before this happens, the district wants to move up all ninth grade freshmen up for athletics. In the past, some sports have allowed this, such as soccer, track and field (after their season in junior high is over), wrestling, gymnastics, golf and softball. However, by doing this it makes the athlete a ‘part-time’ player, making the experience more stressful and complicated.
If Lawrence High accommodated all ninth graders into every sport, it would be very stressful and complicated to do. For example, the pom squad at LHS practices with the band sixth hour to stage the Marching Band show. Would ninth graders who wanted to be on the dance team just not be in the band show? Ninth grade athletes would also miss out on assemblies and being in the atmosphere of the school for which they play.
Sometimes junior high and high school events conflict making some ninth grade athletes choose the activity they attend. This causes inconvenience to the ninth graders, making it more stressful and complicated to succeed in the sports they play. The experience playing with older kids makes them better players, but that can happen in other ways besides the high commitment of a high school sport. An example would be an open gym for all to practice, two or three times a week, so ninth graders get experience playing with upperclassmen. It seems kind of crazy picturing a twelfth grader tackling a ninth grader; it would cause many injuries that would not be necessary.
Practice times would also cause a big issue for ninth graders. First, junior highs do not have the same schedules as the high schools in Lawrence. On Thursdays, LHS gets out of school at 2:35 p.m. while junior highs get out at 3:08 p.m., if the sport practiced after school on the high school schedule on Thursday’s, freshmen would be late, and in many cases ninth graders would need to get out of school early, which makes administrators in junior highs sometimes frustrated. Also, what would happen to ninth graders who did not have rides to LHS after school?
One solution would be to let ninth graders play the sport without attending school at Lawrence High, but the district must make sure there are no conflicts with junior high and high school activities, make sure all ninth graders have transportation to Lawrence High, make sure that all ninth graders have time to come to LHS and practice, and make sure they do not get out of their junior high early to go to a high school practice.
Another solution would be to have a c-team designated for ninth graders to cater to their needs, and if an athlete would move up to junior varsity or varsity, his or her needs would be met. Although solutions will not be in students control, coming up with ways and ideas to make the transition easier for the future is what is needed.
