Junior Varsity
- Thread starter usafafam
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Not a direct answer to your question (sorry), but I know that many HS teams place the veteran/advanced JV players as "swing" players. That means that while their playtime is mostly with JV, they are available for varsity games and earn a letter.
If you're the JV captain (as my DS was in his 2nd year), are you also "swing"? If so, you have earned your letter and can honestly put that down without stretching the truth in any way.
In any case, being captain of the JV team is something you should be proud of and shows you are a leader. It will help on your apps.
Luigi59
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It definitely puts you in the minority.
87% of the cadets appointed to the Class of 2016 had a HS Varsity letter.
Zimmermann 45
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Like what Med8 discribed my high school will make seniors who have been on the team (any team at my school) for more than 2 years you will recieve a Varsity Letter even if you were part of the Junior Varsity squad, so ask around and try and find out if your school has a similar system
The varsity letter "requirement" that all of the academies have is somewhat perplexing for exactly this reason. The requirements to earn a varsity letter varies widely among schools. Some give a varsity letter for participating at the varsity level, some for points scored/minutes played, some for two years participating at JV level, some for 4 years participation at any level, etc. Add to this that at a small school a kid may be a 3 or 4 year varsity starter but at a neighboring large school not even make the team. What we do know is that, irregardless of their reasons, the academies place significant weight on varsity letters so you need to explore all avenues to achieve that letter.
Just as a clarification, the "swing" designation I'm talking about works like this...
Soccer Team has 30 kids that make the grade. So rather than make a JV team of 15 and Varsity team of 15 (making both rather "thin" with injuries and stamina issues. They split the team this way:
10 straight Varsity
10 "swing" players
10 straight JV
The 10 straight Varsity will naturally start most of the games, but there are always some number of "swing" players called up for each Varsity game. And as you might expect, when the Swing players aren't playing Varsity, they are starting JV for sure.
This swing role is great for talented younger players to also get some Varsity experience so they are ready when they mature physically in a year. Rather than just sit the bench on Varsity, they still get play time on JV.
These swing players absolutely earn their letter. Maybe even more than say a Varsity football team of 40 kids where some number sit all year and don't play at all.
Soccer Team has 30 kids that make the grade. So rather than make a JV team of 15 and Varsity team of 15 (making both rather "thin" with injuries and stamina issues. They split the team this way:
10 straight Varsity
10 "swing" players
10 straight JV
The 10 straight Varsity will naturally start most of the games, but there are always some number of "swing" players called up for each Varsity game. And as you might expect, when the Swing players aren't playing Varsity, they are starting JV for sure.
This swing role is great for talented younger players to also get some Varsity experience so they are ready when they mature physically in a year. Rather than just sit the bench on Varsity, they still get play time on JV.
These swing players absolutely earn their letter. Maybe even more than say a Varsity football team of 40 kids where some number sit all year and don't play at all.