From weightlifting, conditioning, and practice time, junior varsity (JV) and varsity are fairly similar. Yet their appearance in school media is drastically different. 

Most sports here at Chapman have a varsity and JV team separated by the athlete’s level of skill. Their training, however, is very similar. Two hours of practice, shared weightlifting classes, and lots of effort are being put forward by both teams. So why are JV teams shown so scarcely?

If you’ve gone to Chapman, you walked by the gym and have seen the glass cases for the extracurricular activities. However, in most all the cabinets, they only show pictures of the past and present varsity teams. Even when space is present for other pictures.

The lack of representation doesn’t stop there though. In student journalism, we see this trend repeat. When buying a yearbook and flipping to the sports pages, we commonly find 1-2 pictures of JV athletes while varsity players get the rest of the two pages. Their team picture is instead crammed in the very back with all the other JV teams. Even in our own photo galleries on The Prowl, varsity athletes are represented more than JV, even though they work just as hard. I understand there are very legitimate reasons why, but this can still make the athletes feel unappreciated.

“I feel like there isn’t much. We are the downgrade,” freshman Eli Hoover, a member of the JV wrestling and football team, said. “We always get worse equipment. We are always last and no one comes to watch us.” 

This shows how underappreciated the JV athletes feel. When you play a sport you love and become dedicated to it, you would want to feel just as seen as the other players. Showing that all players are important will make them want to strive to be greater. 

All of these can commonly cause athletes to quit after not making their desired level of team. The different levels of attention the two teams receive can often take some of the fun out of playing a high school sport. The fans and media are a prime reason students take part in such activities even when they have such a busy schedule. So how is that fair to all the JV players that work just as hard? I personally invite all of you to come watch at least one JV event this year. You’ll certainly find hard working athletes with an aim to improve.