Shame on Arlington County HS Volleyball Coaches

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8th graders are allowed to try-out for the fall sports- Freshman Football, Cross
Country, Volleyball and Field Hockey. In the Spring, 8th graders are allowed to try out for Softball, Baseball, Boys Lacrosse, Girls
Lacrosse, and Crew.
These sports are offered to 8th graders because they are not offered at the middle school level, and the Virginia High School League allows 8th graders to participate on the JV level without affecting their high
school eligibility.

This is not just Arlington.

^^This with one clarification. If the 8th grader participates in a Varsity sport like tennis (there is no JV tennis in FCPS or APS), he/she only has three years of eligibility when he/she enters high school for that particular sport.

When my DD was an 8th grader at Cooper MS, she wanted to play Varsity tennis for Langley HS. I looked into this, and it was confirmed by the AD of Langley HS that the rules allowed it because there was no tennis at Cooper MS. DD got accepted to Sidwell so she didn't play at Langley.

​Not just APS but FCPS as well.



​

8th grader cannot do Tennis because there are middle school Tennis teams in APS. This is why it’s important that we’re talking about knowledge of a specific school system and not having random Fairfax County parents piping in.

[Anonymous]

Some eighth graders get waivers to play, like in the Tennis example above and it adds to the frustration because some of those families have no intention of going to the high school. They intend on going to a private school so the VHSL eligibility rules will not apply to them.

[Anonymous]

Right so you can get some volleyball 8th grade wunderkid from Metro Travel who plays JV at Yorktown and then transfers over to GDS/FH or another private. Meanwhile a 10th grader at Yorktown who actually goes to the school is bumped.

Coaches - Do better.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:For putting multiple 8th graders on Arlington County high school JV teams (not even freshman teams!) and bumping hardworking sophomores/juniors who now can’t play for their *actual* school.

13-year-olds shouldn’t be on a high school JV team when there are only 12 spots.

And shame on the coaches for enabling this.

Is this Yorktown?

Reports are that this happened this week. Several sophomores/juniors cut from JV and replaced by 8th and 9th graders. 9th, okay I get it. But 8th? Put them on the freshman team.

There is a group of 8th and 9th grade girls that are very good at VB and soccer. Many of these girls are also on that really good flag football team. Watch out for this to happen in soccer in the spring as well.

No dog in this fight, but this really should not be allowed - 8th graders playing on JV. I understand 9th graders playing for their home school at any level or 8th graders potentially playing on the Freshman team, but my heart goes out to the Sophomore and Junior girls who were cut and replaced by 13-year-olds. Especially when volleyball teams are small to begin with.

The Arlington Coaches should know better and do better.

Should not be allowed, seriously? those MS kids earned those spots fairly.

If you don't like the rules, you should vote for the school board members who favor in changing that rules.

Oh please they don’t even go to the school and aren’t eligible to attend the school! But can steal spots from students who are academically enrolled? So. Wrong.

+1 no dog in this fight, but completely agree. They shouldn’t be allowed on the team.

Agree. 8th graders should not be on the team.

[Anonymous]

I agree that this is terrible policy by Arlington (and other districts that allow this).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’ve got to push for middle school teams! Can’t place the blame on Arlington coaches.

Shut your trap

[Anonymous]

NP and agree. The coaches also deserve heat for this at the public HS level - this is not club. They know who the HS players are and who goes to the school. They know that a random 8th grader not making a HS team = oh well I can play club and do intensive middle school clinics and then apply to private. But an actual school junior or sophomore not making their HS team = no real alternative for Fall, negative social impact at school, negative self esteem, potential college impact and loss of an EC on college apps, loss of morale for team and school, etc. a good coach knows this.

[Anonymous]

It sucks for the cut kids. Attending the school you play for is the lowest bar possible and Arlington can't even meet that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sucks for the cut kids. Attending the school you play for is the lowest bar possible and Arlington can't even meet that

Agreed. What the heck?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For putting multiple 8th graders on Arlington County high school JV teams (not even freshman teams!) and bumping hardworking sophomores/juniors who now can’t play for their *actual* school.

13-year-olds shouldn’t be on a high school JV team when there are only 12 spots.

And shame on the coaches for enabling this.

Is this Yorktown?

Reports are that this happened this week. Several sophomores/juniors cut from JV and replaced by 8th and 9th graders. 9th, okay I get it. But 8th? Put them on the freshman team.

There is a group of 8th and 9th grade girls that are very good at VB and soccer. Many of these girls are also on that really good flag football team. Watch out for this to happen in soccer in the spring as well.

No dog in this fight, but this really should not be allowed - 8th graders playing on JV. I understand 9th graders playing for their home school at any level or 8th graders potentially playing on the Freshman team, but my heart goes out to the Sophomore and Junior girls who were cut and replaced by 13-year-olds. Especially when volleyball teams are small to begin with.

The Arlington Coaches should know better and do better.

Should not be allowed, seriously? those MS kids earned those spots fairly.

If you don't like the rules, you should vote for the school board members who favor in changing that rules.

Oh please they don’t even go to the school and aren’t eligible to attend the school! But can steal spots from students who are academically enrolled? So. Wrong.

Stealing spots? What?

Again, is that legal? If that is LEGAL, and you don't like the rules, you should take that up with the School Board.

Wait till your 8th grader is a 10th grader and loses their spot to a MS kid. Karma.

100% karma. I feel for those girls in 10-11th who got cut and now can’t play for their actual school—esp those girls who maybe aren’t in a situation where they are able to play club (we know there are some at both WL and YHS). Meanwhile some 13-year-old club player can play club, and do the $$$ fall MS clinics, and now JV for Hs. Something isn’t right there! Volleyball has become a sport for club privilege.

I guess in APS, equity is not a thing?

[Anonymous]

Wow - this is shameful of APS.

Is there someone to complain to? I'm serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP and agree. The coaches also deserve heat for this at the public HS level - this is not club. They know who the HS players are and who goes to the school. They know that a random 8th grader not making a HS team = oh well I can play club and do intensive middle school clinics and then apply to private. But an actual school junior or sophomore not making their HS team = no real alternative for Fall, negative social impact at school, negative self esteem, potential college impact and loss of an EC on college apps, loss of morale for team and school, etc. a good coach knows this.

I disagree with this statement. As much as I agree with rule about not letting 8th grader participate in HS sports, coaches have to follow rules and regulations set by the school and VHSL. Coaches can not turn down a qualified 8th grader over a underqualified 9th or 10th grader. Parents of the 8th grader can sue the school for that. Lots of lawyers in the DMV, LOL.... If you don't like the rules, vote for people who can change the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Any suggestions on where these cut girls can play? Like recommendations for actual programs and locations and not just “club or rec or open gyms.” Where? These HS girls are talented/solid players and don’t want to lose skills so they can play club again.

I don’t have specific advice for that, but I just want to add on that This is a shame because it then comes off as an EC on their college application.

Isn't that the whole problem - college admissions? Get the sport out of colleges and there wouldn't be this sports in high school and middle school obsession. Most other countries in the world use the club model.

[Anonymous]

So it looks like the state policy is that districts “may” allow 8th graders to move up to HS level sports NOT that that districts “shall” or “must” allow it. So FFX county and others have decided not to allow this to happen. But Arlington has. Awful.

Clearly the intent for the reg was for districts where schools were having trouble filling teams. Not a district like APS where 100+ girls show up to try out for 38-40 spots on their HS team. The coaches and district should know better…. As the parent of a sophomore VB player in FFX, this truly stinks for the students at those schools. A sophomore would then have to basically compete for a JV spot against all the other grade levels at their school, and the Arlington “option schools” like HB and Tech which allow those kids to try out for spots at their home school, plus now 8th graders! whereas freshmen have a freshman team and seniors have varsity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP and agree. The coaches also deserve heat for this at the public HS level - this is not club. They know who the HS players are and who goes to the school. They know that a random 8th grader not making a HS team = oh well I can play club and do intensive middle school clinics and then apply to private. But an actual school junior or sophomore not making their HS team = no real alternative for Fall, negative social impact at school, negative self esteem, potential college impact and loss of an EC on college apps, loss of morale for team and school, etc. a good coach knows this.

I disagree with this statement. As much as I agree with rule about not letting 8th grader participate in HS sports, coaches have to follow rules and regulations set by the school and VHSL. Coaches can not turn down a qualified 8th grader over a underqualified 9th or 10th grader. Parents of the 8th grader can sue the school for that. Lots of lawyers in the DMV, LOL.... If you don't like the rules, vote for people who can change the rules.

The rule says “may” not “must” or “shall” and other counties don’t implement this. So there’s no legal threat. Coaches could turn down a qualified 8th grader who isn’t a student at the school.