Shorewood students trying out for the school’s soccer team Monday, Feb. 25, faced far fiercer competition than they would have in years past.
That’s because this year, C Teams in soccer and a few other sports aren’t an option at Shorewood and Shorecrest high schools. Shoreline School District officials cut the teams in August to help fill a budget gap.
Besides soccer, C Teams in boys baseball and a Shorecrest girls tennis team were cut.
Students have been buzzing about the loss of the entry-level teams, which give more of them a chance to play and get a start in high school sports.
“A lot of my friends are mad,” said Jacob Wilkins, a Shorewood junior, the week before tryouts. “They’re saying they’re not even going to try out.”
Wilkins played on the soccer C team as a freshman, and it kept him busy.
“It takes up a ton of your time,” he said — two hours a day every day after school.
“Freshmen never make JV or varsity,” said Cassy Aspinall, a Shorewood parent.
Despite the odds, her son Simon Aspinall, a freshman at Shorewood, was aiming to get on the JV soccer team the week before tryouts.
“If I don’t make it, I’ll do what I usually do after school, like go on the computer,” he said.
At other times of year, he plays recreational soccer, but that shuts down during high school soccer season because they expect students to play at school, he said.
If they don’t get on the team, people will go do things that aren’t as productive, said Wilkins. Some students his age can get jobs, but if they’re freshmen or sophomores, they will often play video games or get into drug situations, he said.
“It’s been a big deal in our school,” Shorewood junior Tim Aspinall said of the loss of the C teams.
He played on the soccer C team his freshman year and on JV last year, stepping up to varsity. He never could have done that without C team because it’s a huge jump from recreational soccer to JV, he said.
He also made many of his friends on C Team, including Wilkins. A core group of the boys have stayed close.
It’s harder to make friends in high school if you don’t do a sport or club, the boys said. They said the teams bring together random people of different grade levels who wouldn’t otherwise become friends.
Simon Aspinall said that starting high school was tough, but he kept telling himself that at least he had soccer. Other kids feel similarly lost, he said.
“You have the kids who come to school saying, ‘I hate this, I hate this,’” he said.
Part of the problem is cliques.
“You have the normal high school montage, with cliques,” Simon Aspinall said. “Like, ‘That guy’s a stoner — I don’t want to hang out with him,’ but on the field, he kicks the ball in the net and he’s my friend.”
Adults complain about students being technology-focused and obese, but then they cut sports teams, Tim Aspinall said.
“It’s definitely a sad thing to hear about,” he said. “It’s one of the worse things that’s happened.”
The Shoreline School Board will soon discuss whether or not to accept private donations to reinstate C teams. (See related story.)
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