A day before our last school game of the year, we found out that due to a few injuries and a couple of academic ineligibilities, all five of our eighth graders were going to be moving up to the C Squad to play with whatever players they had left for the last two games of the year. They were very exited to hear this news and are anxious for the experience. There are a couple of them that deserved to be given a chance to move up at the beginning of the year, as they were talented enough to do so. RTR is one of the few school districts around this area that does not allow seventh and eighth graders to be moved up to varsity level sports, except in special circumstances such as this. I have spoken to a number of coaches of teams we have played this year, and just about all of them lost at least one, if not multiple players to the varsity teams. I applaud all schools that allow this to be done at the discretion of a good coaching staff. If a player is good enough to play at the varsity level as an underclassmen or even a middle schooler, then they should be allowed to. Teams only hurt themselves by doing otherwise. Some of the promising athletes that go through our school, do not get varsity experience until their later high school years, which steals valuable experience and limits potential. Sports are supposed to be competitive and if someone is better than you, then you should not be upset that they are playing in front of you, age aside. It is about who works the hardest to become a better player and has the superior skills, at least at the varsity level. The older you get, the more cutthroat sports are.
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