Dear Editor,

    When it comes to a sport, everyone wants to win; however, in high school it really isn’t about winning. It’s about waiting. We’ve been taught since we were little to wait our turn. Shouldn’t that rule apply in high school sports as well?

    What I’m trying to say is, underclassmen should not get to play over an upperclassmen in a high school sporting event. Yes, there are times when there may be an exception to this but that is not every game you play. A senior might not have as much talent as a sophomore or freshmen, but that doesn’t mean they should automatically get benched for the season. Everyone deserves a chance at the least.  

    For most kids, a high school sport is all they have. They might not play on a travel or club team, and they might not be trying to play at the collegiate level either, but that does not mean they want to play any less on their high school team for whatever the sport may be. If an upperclassmen is giving 110% every day at practice and doing everything they can to the best of their ability, which again may not be as good as an underclassmen, they still deserve time in the game.

    I do agree there are times where an underclassman should play over an upperclassman if that underclassman has more talent. If  your team is playing in a tournament game, then you play your best kids or if you’re playing your biggest rivalry then you play your best kids. There’s still plenty of opportunities to play those upperclassmen in other games throughout the season.

    It’s not going to be the end of the world if a less talented player who happens to be an upperclassman is in the game for a certain amount of time. A good coach would be able to figure out who plays best with whom and manage a way to not let the amount of talent effect the game.

    Coaches need to be the ones to understand this the most. They chose to coach a high school sport, so they need to be able to divide up time evenly between the upperclassmen and underclassmen. Underclassmen need to accept that they have to wait. They will get their chance one day as well. The waiting game is the most important game there is when it comes to high school sports.