This spring, 6th graders at Westminster had no opportunity to participate in any spring sports. Although the school recently added 6th grade programs for volleyball in the fall and basketball in the winter, the 6th graders were not allowed to try out for baseball, soccer, or lacrosse.
Coach Matt Tuneski, the Middle School Athletic Director and the Green Team baseball coach, says that the real reason for this shortcoming is field space. With all of the soccer, lacrosse, and baseball teams, there simply aren’t enough fields to go around. Soccer and lacrosse each have four high school teams, baseball has two, and each program supports multiple Middle School teams in addition. Unfortunately, no more space is available to add more teams.
According to Tuneski, the school is working on a plan to add more fields in the future. “The goal is to create more spaces.” This would be a major step in the direction of adding 6th grade spring sports teams.
Tuneski says that 6th graders are not allowed to try out for the existing Middle School teams due to the higher academic pressure. “With a lot of these sixth graders . . . it’s their first time at Westminster, and that’s usually a higher academic workload,” he says. “They are getting used to new systems and habits, so part of it is that we just want to keep the sixth graders together.”
Sixth graders trying out for existing teams could also potentially take spots from seventh and eighth graders, adding to the competition of tryouts. “If you were to add sixth graders and let them try out, one of the last things we want to do right now is give sixth graders an opportunity to take spots from seventh and eighth graders at the middle school level,” Tuneski says.
Tuneski also adds that the Middle School is based on participation and inclusion. “We want kids to be a part of something, so we’re constantly walking that line.”
However, many 6th graders wish they were able to participate in a spring sport. The 6th grade boys grade chair, David Gale, says there is a lot of interest in the sports programs. “We’ve got a lot of baseball players, and I know there was a lot of interest in lacrosse as well. We have a ton of soccer players as well, and this has been a trial year of testing out sixth grade sports, and I think they made the sports that could happen, happen.”
Gale says that some kids feel left out. “[For a] lot of kids baseball is their thing, soccer is their thing, or lacrosse is their thing,” he says. “Not having that opportunity yet to be a part of the team is a tough one.”
6th grader Parker McGlown, who plays baseball, says “I would have loved to play for the Westminster baseball program.” 6th grader Wyatt Hanna agrees: “Playing for the baseball team in 6th grade would have been super fun.”
In addition, the lack of sports options for 6th graders in the spring has affected the only non-cut sport in that season. “In the spring, all there is is track and field,” Gale says, “which has been great because our kids really love that opportunity, but at the same time it puts a lot of pressure on track and field.”