Sitting in a crowd full of energetic and wild high school students, the boisterous teens scream their heads off.  Observers would call it rowdy, even barbarous.  Members of this student section would call it intense spirit and fan support. Students of all ages uniting together and going nuts as  untamed fans from grades 9-12 are cheering, chanting and going berserk for…. a JV game.

Wouldn’t that be a bizarre sight? Students coming to a JV game. That’s unheard of. Having student section themes, organized cheers and cowbells at a non-varsity game would be wild.

Back to reality.

Sitting in the near empty bleachers, I watch the athletes that put in countless hours of hard work compete in front of a total of maybe ten unamused fans.  These fans aren’t the average fans that get rowdy under the Friday night lights.  Nor the fans that go overboard and body paint for a nonconference game between two mediocre teams.  These fans are parents.  Parents of Freshman and Sophomore kids that aren’t yet skilled  enough to be on the school’s Varsity team.  These parents are the kids of Freshman and JV level players.

Why don’t these teams ever get any love or fan support?  Don’t these kids put in just as much effort as the kids on Varsity?  Showing up to practice day in and day out trying to improve their game.

These athletes play for the love of the game.  They love to go out and compete, to get better.  The fact of the matter is, these athletes put in numerous hours.  Whether it’s in the gym, on the court, or on the track, these athletes are out there competing and playing the game.  These athletes aren’t the most skilled, but they still show up, work hard, and get better.  These athletes should be applauded.

    I’m not saying that since they’re trying their best they should get participation trophies, because I don’t believe in that.  All I’m saying is that Freshman and JV athletes should get some more recognition.  Don’t they deserve that at the very least?