Is it unfair that on some teams the worst players trying out cannot be cut?

Members of the hockey, indoor track, sailing and swim teams think so. On the other hand, members of the cross country and crew teams feel their no cut policies has been beneficial to their teams.

There is not an official no cut policy, but many teams accept all students who try out.

Some dedicated athletes have been frustrated by the lack of commitment from some players on these teams. Serious athletes feel as though everyone on the team should be dedicated and have a shared goal of winning.

“I think that because we don’t have any cuts, we don’t cut off the people who are not committed to the team,” said senior Emily Chin, a member of the varsity sailing team. “It’s annoying that you don’t know who to expect at practice every day. We have a bunch of people who don’t really care about sailing and come only when they feel like it.”

Chin feels even if a team member is really good, he or she must consistently show up and express dedication to the team to the sport. She is not fond of the teammates who are sailing only for a health and fitness credit.

“It should still count as a health and fitness credit,” said Chin, “but we need to eliminate the people who are doing the sport solely for that reason.”

Senior Amanda Frankel, a member of the indoor track team, agrees with Chin. She said there are people who do indoor track just for the credit.

“It’s just stupid more than anything because you end up putting in so much more time than you would a PE class,”said Frankel.

Teams with more members face disadvantages such as a lack of sailboats and cramped workout areas.

According to Chin, many teams placed disinterested players on the junior varsity team. Junior Jack Corcoran, a golf and hockey player, said this separation pleases the varsity players.

“JV isn’t as competitive because they play everybody,” said Corcoran. “On varsity, the only goal is to win, so we only play the best players.”

Because disinterested athletes do not typically make the varsity team, Chin feels that the sailing team does a good job of separating the serious from the less dedicated, but still feels this is not enough.

Some students appreciate the no cut policy.

Senior CQ Alonzo, a senior on the cross country team, disagrees with Frankel and believes that the no cut policy is good because it gives everyone an equal chance. Alonzo joined the team during his freshman year, mostly for the health and fitness credit. That year he was one of the slowest runners, but after giving it a chance, he improved and he ran for varsity.

“Some people start out when they might not be very good,” said Alonzo. “But over the years, they improved a lot and became valuable members of our team.”

Junior Marie Kolarik, a rower, thinks that there should be a no cut policy so all aspiring athletes can learn how to play or do a sport, such as crew.

“When you come in as a novice, nobody knows what they are doing,” said Kolarik. “I don’t think it would be fair to make cuts at that point.”

Kolarik thinks that the crew team handles having athletes of all skill levels well. Not only is the crew team split up between varsity, junior varsity and freshman, but it is also split into boats by skill. This ensures no member is slowing down the rest.

“It doesn’t really have an effect on making the team better or worse,” said Kolarik.

Likewise, senior Mark Perry, a runner, said that the no cut policy does not hurt his team but rather enhances it.

“The best teams usually have the bigger teams,” said Perry. “It sets up a really good tradition and attitude where everyone is competing against each other and getting better with each other, with younger kids looking at older kids to get them into the running culture. The more the merrier.”

Steve Trundle, the head coach of the boys varsity hockey team, disagrees with his athlete Corcoran and believes that the no cut policy encourages any and all students to participate in sports.

“We really don’t have enough numbers to cut players,” said Trundle. “I would like to believe that most coaches look for reasons to keep as many players involved with their program as possible.”

Jamie Francona and Alex Friedman can be contacted at [email protected].