No-Cut

More than a third of Cranford High School students are participating in one or more sports this fall season.  Boys are playing football and soccer and running cross-country.  Girls are out for field hockey, soccer, volleyball, tennis, gymnastics, cross-country and cheerleading. 

Students have a wide range of choices, and a turnout of 383 athletes is impressive.  Some of the sports field varsity, junior varsity and freshman squads.  One of the reasons for such a high level of participation is because most of the teams have a no-cut practice in place.   The no-cut practice means that students don’t have to survive tryouts to be on a team.

Two years ago Superintendent Lawrence Feinsod wrote in a memo, “My belief that we need to be as inclusive as possible regarding athletic opportunities that we provide students remains steadfast.”  It’s hard to argue with that sentiment.  In his memo he specifically doesn’t make the no-cut practice mandatory but there is no mistaking his feelings on the matter.  Students are permitted to join a team whether or not they have the requisite skills.  Some students are padding a resume for college and others are responding to parental pressure. 

Board of Education member Michael Caulfied says there are competing compelling reasons on each side of the no-cut practice issue.  Less gifted athletes may well love the sport and they’re enriched by being part of a team.  When I asked Marc Taglieri, the Athletic Director, he told me he supports not cutting students but was more measured in his support than either Feinsod or Caulfield.  I’m old school.  I believe that interscholastic athletic competition is important and that students must earn the right to be on a team.  I also believe that a team won’t function optimally if it has too many members.

Of the sports listed above, cross-country should certainly have a no-cut policy.  If a student athlete is willing to show up and run two or three miles a day there’s no reason to deny participation.  Team scores are a compilation of individual efforts and only the times of the top runners from each school count for team placing.  However, each athlete who competes is likely to improve during the season and each is likely to find a special camaraderie within the group.

Team sports are different and we need look no further than the girl’s soccer program to see why.  Girl’s soccer is an especially strong program with 21 girls on the varsity team, 32 on the junior varsity and 14 on the freshman squad. Last week I saw the girl’s varsity play and beat Linden. I also watched the JV team beat Linden and then lose to Ramapo.  Against Linden, 32 JV players shuffled in and out in shifts.  Everyone saw action and Cranford won easily.  Ramapo had a much better side and our JV team lost 2 to 1 while playing only its best players.   

Feinsod told me that students aren’t guaranteed playing time simply because they’re on a team.  That’s all well and good.  However, 32 players and 11 positions is a whole lot for a coach to manage.  A coach should put a cohesive unit on the field and that’s nearly impossible if the roster exceeds 18 players.  It’s difficult to develop team rapport when a coach has to juggle lines and playing time and cope with the distraction of far too many players.  When a team doesn’t jell, and the JV squad hasn’t, the team loses its focus and players become frustrated.   The passion and excitement of competing is diminished.
 
As bad as this girl’s soccer situation is now, it gets worse next year and worse still in two years time.  Here’s why.  The girls recreational soccer program is a reliable feeder system for Cranford’s high school program.  This year there are three traveling teams in the under 14-age group.  Many of these girls have played and practiced 3 days a week, 10 months a year for the last 8 years.  These three teams might well send 35 or 40 girls into next year’s high school program.  That’s just the cream of the crop.  Others may also choose to join the team.   When this happens how many girls will be on the varsity and JV squads? 

This year’s varsity is a very good team and only a few seniors are starting.   Several sophomores and two exceptionally talented freshmen start for the team.  The JV team has five freshmen on the squad.  Next year the Cranford High girl’s varsity soccer team will be ranked in the top five in the state and in two years should be even stronger.  Unless the no-cut practice is changed the girl’s varsity may not reach it’s potential simply because they won’t cut players.

History tells us that players get cut and still survive.  Michael Jordan was cut from his high school freshman basketball team and Herb Brooks was the last cut from the 1960 USA hockey team.  Many athletes who do get cut find a different sport or activity and do well.

Life teaches us that we don’t always get what we want and that risk (trying out) and disappointment (not being selected) are important learning experiences.  Making a team, competing, winning and suffering heart- wrenching losses are also important learning experiences.  Losing because a no-cut practice creates an environment that hampers the ability of a team to compete is a bad-learning experience.  The no-cut practice dumbs down the competitive experience for our very best student athletes. 

Marc Kelley is a resident of Cranford and can be reached at mkelley@eclipse.net.