Frosh, JV teams invisible, but still shining stars

ROGER CARLSON

A recent inquiry brings to mind the role of freshmen and junior

varsity teams on the high school level and the prevailing anonymity

which they operate under.

For youth all-stars, occasionally marked by trips to the sectional

or regional, marked by recognition with bows at city council meetings

and the sort, the distance from being the toast of the town to the

freshmen baseball diamond is not only short, it’s quick and out of

sight.

The occasional very successful freshmen football team is sometimes

an exception, especially if a booster pushes for it with

documentation, but for the most part the freshmen and sophomores in

high school sports toil away in a sort of newsworthy purgatory.

The only sophomore you’re really aware of is the gem who is

elevated to the varsity.

There are no playoffs below the varsity level, no Top 10 polls and

it takes a lot of work to find out exactly where you are in your

league standings.

An exception along these waves is the annual Battle of the Bay

(Newport Harbor vs. Corona del Mar) in freshmen football, or the

annual freshmen football duel between Estancia and Costa Mesa. And

that’s only because of the unique mind-set of the Daily Pilot’s local

coverage, which is a true rarity.

There are no hard and fast rules governing it, but a rough rule of

thumb for a strong program calls for freshmen to play on the

frosh-soph level, sophomores comprise your basic junior varsity teams

and juniors and seniors usually dot the varsity rosters.

There are exceptions, of course. Newport Harbor High’s varsity

football team had four sophomores listed on its team last fall, which

is a lot. For the most part, two sophomores would be more than usual.

The girls are a little different, often with freshmen and

sophomores dominating the varsity rosters, with many seniors falling

by the wayside. Still, if you’re on a frosh-soph team, you’re

basically invisible.

It wasn’t always like this. In the 1950s and ‘60s, and earlier, it

was a Bee, Cee and even Dee system, which took into account weight

and age.

The girls had to settle for GAA (girls athletic association),

which was an intramural program which often led to no more than

taking roll call and playing some sort of “kickball” or very soft

volleyball and tennis.

That all changed with the advent of Title IX in 1972, which

required that the girls should have an equal opportunity to show

their stuff. And with it came the big squeeze.

The first to fall by the wayside in the Daily Pilot was frosh-soph

and junior varsity results in swimming and track and field, which was

a bitter pill for some coaches, and parents.

In the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s the Bees, outside of the school

newspaper, seldom saw the light of day on the sports pages, but were

often celebrated on campuses as the “Battling Bees,” and they often

played before big crowds before the varsity in basketball. The Cees,

regardless of success, were pretty well ignored.

In football, too, the Bees were considered to be of “blue chip”

stock, often with seniors on the roster.

In the 1930s the Bees were actually competing in the CIF playoffs

against others on the “Bee” level.

The CIF record book shows Huntington Beach as the 1935 “Minor”

champions, which is incorrect. The Oilers were the CIF “Bee”

champions for that year. Huntington Beach’s varsity went 5-3 overall

and was not in the playoffs. At any rate, today’s underclassmen get

scant mention in the papers and there are a couple of reasons.

First, I don’t think the coaches particularly want the recognition

for their players, perhaps for a number of reasons. In reality, they

are the training grounds for the varsity, and controversy or in-house

rivalry isn’t really useful.

Secondly, in terms of “boosters” or parents, time is fleeting.

Without the organization that is often apparent on the varsity level,

there is very little foundation for putting together some sort of

presentation.

There are exceptions, but almost always, it is because the team

itself is exceptional.

Of course, we’re talking team sports here, and freshmen and

sophomores on the varsity level are often making the news in

individualized sports, such as tennis, swimming and track and field,

for instance.

From time to time one of the avenues was to produce a

“lightweight” column, concentrating on a successful team or program,

but even that has had its problems of consistency.

A couple of readers actually took issue with the term

“lightweights,” as if it was something derogatory. Somehow, I was

never able to view a freshman as a “heavyweight.” And, I had never

considered a lightweight champion in boxing akin to a slur. But I

guess that’s another issue.

On a team basis, will the freshmen, frosh-soph or junior varsity

athletes ever find happiness in the newspaper? It’s pretty doubtful.

They deserve the recognition, but for the most part, they’re probably

just going to have to settle for the post-season banquet.

Sometimes it can be pretty frustrating for the loving parent, who

believes junior deserves the recognition. But that’s how it goes and

I believe for the most part, it’s the occasional mom and dad who is

“suffering.” Junior has other things to think about and is not very

concerned, if at all.

Looking back, I should have kept a running count on the number of

parents who called me to make sure we were aware of some

accomplishment.

They’d make their case for “Athlete of the Week” honors or some

other recognition, whether the parent of a senior or a freshman, and

they would almost always finish the plea with this message: “By the

way, you won’t let him know I called, will you? If he knew I did

this, he’d never forgive me!”

I always answered, regardless of outcome, “Mum’s the word.”

Hey! See you next Sunday!

* ROGER CARLSON is the former sports editor for the Daily Pilot.

His column appears on Sundays. He can be reached by e-mail at

rogeranddorothea@msn.com.