The Story
BHS sports teams have gone a little crazy with the scissors, because there are cuts everywhere.
Let’s back up a few steps…
This year, there seem to have been a lot of bulldogs cut from sports teams, and not just from freshman or JV. All of a sudden, pre-existing varsity players have not made the team, and JV is getting cut down too. Weird, right? We wanted answers, and we got them from the man, the myth, the legend, the athletic director: Corey Parker himself.
Why so many cuts?
It’s a bulldog palooza! There are 511 students in the BHS athletic program this fall. There were 396 last year. But remember that our lovely crew club (sorry, team－whoopsie) has joined the program, adding 86 kids. So let’s do the math. 511 athletes − 396 from last year − 86 from crew = 29 more team members than last year for fall sports. And this is how many people were added to the program. And since there were more cuts than normal, there must have been a big increase of students trying out. Mr. Parker is pretty excited about it.
Hold up.
Yeah, we know. Where did these students come from, and where did they go? We don’t know what spiked the rise in participation, but it wasn’t an increase in enrollment, as the BHS population went down 21 dogs. The freshmen could be athletically superior to every grade before it, or seniors realizing its their last year, may have felt the need to participate. Team sizes could have expanded some to accommodate the 29 new athletes, but there has been a jump in participation in non-cut sports like cross country and football…
What teams made more cuts?
Because of the influx, some sports had to tighten the leash (haha get it) a little more. Teams like girls soccer and volleyball, which tend to be pretty competitive, made more than normal, and boys soccer cut a few players as well. Unfortunately, for most teams, NHIAA only allows so many members. Fun fact: golf cut almost almost half its tryout participants, from 27 to 16! That was unexpected, especially since you don’t actually get to use golf carts.
Does loyalty mean anything?
The answer… No. Say what?! The short explanation: it’s not about time spent on the team or seniority－it’s about talent. So if a freshman takes the senior’s spot, that sucks, but so be it. Now it doesn’t sound right to many people, but Mr. Parker says the coaches want to give everyone a chance, while installing a healthy sense of competition in its athletes. And most importantly, every student was given a fair chance to make whichever team they please.
But is that the point?
After all, this is Bedford High School, not the pros (but definitely above college-level). Shouldn’t kids be rewarded for commitment and work ethic as well? Mr. Parker said they haven’t ruled this out. If a student works hard to improve their playing ability, maybe they’ll make the team next season. Maybe. The point is, in all situations, the school doesn’t want a player’s past to dictate their future on the team.
The Runaway
The jump in participation came out of the blue with no real explanation. We guess we’ll see how the winter teams fare…
What to do…
When you’re trying to get ahead of the game and think of ways to combat senioritis…
Take some vacation days…We don’t think Thursdays are that important. But if you’re trying to use suspension as a means of vacation, it’s not going to work anymore. The school board doesn’t want suspensions to be the sole answer to every student problem. If anything, they feel like it should be one of the last options. And it’s actually one of their district goals: reform the disciplinary practices. They encouraged Mr. Jozokos to use discretion with punishments. There were a few ideas thrown out, one of which was education. Like if a student is caught vaping, a teacher may talk to them and educate them on it, and the consequences, like suspension…now possibly death… But the best-suggestion-that-really-needs-to-be-reconsidered: weekend detentions. Board member John Schneller proposed the possibility. There’d be a teacher with the students, and their parents would have to drop them off. We think he could strengthen this idea. Students should probably write an essay about who they think they are－1000 words, at least. We mean, ideally, the teacher would group together people from different cliques. We also would advise the school to lock up all of its records on those days. He claimed he heard a few private schools do it. We’re pretty sure that’s not where he got it from…
When you’re looking for next year’s camping destination…
Try outside the town offices. This year the fight for parking spots was brutal. One junior showed up to the town offices at 4:40 a.m…Sorry but that’s a little extra. He hyped up everyone else to show up pretty early too. That junior said it was worth it because he got the number one spot in Sportsman’s, the closest off-campus parking lot. His parents were very supportive, and even went with him that early. You see? They didn’t do it for him! They didn’t snowplow! By Mr. Jozokos, we think they’ve got it! Another student showed up at 5 a.m. with a friend and also easily got a spot in Sportsman’s. Apparently it was crucial this year because all of the town spots were gone within two hours. But 4:40 a.m.? The town office wasn’t even open. Even more bizarre? The Union Leader covered the story. They did this not once, but twice! They blame the overwhelming amount of cars in Bedford for this parking issue. Really, so kind of them to chime in. Are they going to blame us for global warming next? Underclassmen－maybe not 4:40 a.m, but arrive bright and early and make sure to smile for the Union Leader!
When you’re looking to build team morale after some heavy personnel losses last year…
Start the season off with a former DII team! The football team started off the season with a 41-7 win over the Windham. Clearly, the new football coach, is doing something right! It looks like the credit should go to the defense because Windham didn’t have offensive possession in our half of the field until the end of the third quarter. Talk about a freaking brick wall! Senior running back Mikey Akstin ran in two touchdowns, and had the second most rushing yards in DI last week with 119 yards. Ryan Bobotas, our new kicker (who is not a girl!), had two field goals. Senior Jack Grogan and juniors Sonny Elie and Aaron Skaling each scored touchdowns. Jury seems to be out on our official quarterback. Two quarterbacks played on Friday, with sophomore Joe Mikol starting and Skaling coming in later. Windham turned the ball over four times with three fumbles, which was really quite kind of them because we turned two of those turnovers into 10 points. We are currently undefeated, and it feels good. Whatever happens, let’s remember this moment.
Things to Know
Right When You Thought Senior Year Was All Fun and Games
Senior Project Intro meeting on Wednesday during Advisory B. We think this is way too early in the year. January would probably be better. We mean, we know no one is going to start there’s until then anyway.