Moore: The C Team
By: John Moore | NMPreps
Many times I walked out of the back gym to be greeted by the Head Varsity Coach and the JV Coach. “How did you do?” they would ask. “We won.” was always my reply regardless of what the score was. This was a running joke among coaches. The point was that nobody cared about the C team game. There were fewer than a dozen fans, I knew our record but nobody else did, there would be no game film, and there would be no write-up in tomorrow’s newspaper. So if we got hammered by 30 in some dungeon of a back gym with the echo of bouncing basketballs still ringing in my head I would say, “We won.” Nobody could ever prove otherwise.
Jokes aside, C-team boys basketball is marvelous. The kids that we had embraced C team and went out and played extremely hard. They wore the school uniform, there were officials and scorekeepers, and it was our team against their team – the essence of sport. Looking back, we could have done much more to develop the C team as an integral part of the program. The problem today is that you usually cannot find a C team game; schools have eliminated them.
I spoke with a school official in Hobbs. Hobbs, one of the largest schools in the state, has a basketball tradition like no other. But Hobbs has one Varsity and one JV basketball team, the same as Lovington, a school one-third the size of Hobbs. The reason is scheduling. Years ago there was a sophomore team in Hobbs, but when other large schools dropped their Sophomore teams or C teams, Hobbs could not fill a schedule. There are several other reasons not to carry a C team; one of them is budget. Travel, uniforms, meals, coaches, and officials are costly for districts no doubt. Secondly, a third team means more headache. More players means more parents and more parent problems. Many coaches are stretched thin and the third team adds more to the daily grind. Scheduling, practice time, coaching assignments, equipment, uniforms, training and managerial staff, and eligibility all ultimately fall to the head coach. Thirdly, athletic numbers may fluctuate. Depending on the pool size, a school may not be able to field a team from year to year. Lastly, C team players usually don’t become varsity players. They continue to grow, but usually, by the time they become seniors, they have been surpassed in skill by younger players.
Let’s take a look at each reason not to play a C team schedule. If there are no teams to play, this seems the most challenging reason to not field a C team. However, with some effort and some imagination, the C team can play. In basketball, a school may play a 23 game JV schedule with some games with smaller schools. Some of your less experienced athletes could play against smaller school JV teams. Still, there is only so much playing time to go around and some schools will look at other reasons when determining whether to field a third squad. Coaching is a definite hurdle to C teams. Many coaches aspire to become varsity head coaches and being a C team coach, let’s face it, is not a great line on the resume. Staffs can rotate duties to not overwork the coaches and those who coach for the love of sport will find it refreshing to see how fundamental development leads to success on the court. If a school could field 20 JV kids, say 3 who split time with varsity, 12 kids one step below the varsity, and 7 C team type kids, this is a manageable number. Most importantly, that is 7 kids you did not have to cut.
This leads to the issue of athletic numbers. Covid is the newest plague against athletics. Many high schools simply do not have the numbers to field 3 teams. Some have gone to calling the Freshman team the C team. I would argue that the building of numbers is a never-ending struggle that we must fight and win to keep sports healthy. One program that wins this battle is Artesia football. The Sophomore team competes as a unit and is a vital component of continual success. The strategy begins by fielding multiple teams at the junior high level, and not just in football.
Large 8th grade numbers leads to large Freshman numbers. Unfortunately, here is where many schools get a huge drop off of athletes. About 70% of athletes who quit sports will do it around age 13. The number 1 reason? It isn’t fun any more. I would argue that the fun part decreases with the likelihood of getting cut as a Freshman. Many see they will not make the team and are not willing to put in the effort for what they see as inevitable failure. With this drop-off, the athlete pool is depleted and some schools will be scrambling to field a JV team the following year. The C team is a perfect answer. Rather than cut Freshmen, give 9th graders an opportunity to wear the high school uniforms and play in a few C team high school games, safely of course. Some days the top Freshmen get to play C team, some days the less experienced player gets to play C team. Coaches are good at counting games for individual athletes ensuring no rules are broken.
Finally we come to the budget. If you are fortunate to have a board and administration who want kids to succeed and puts them first, budget is not a concern at all. We are talking about adding a minimal number of kids to a program and giving them a chance to participate. Sports teach kids about teamwork, resiliency, overcoming adversity, teamwork, and so many other life skills. The more kids we keep in sports, the more successful adults we create and budget should not deter our mission.
The C team could have unlimited potential for a program by simply offering athletes a place to stay in athletics. How many programs offer a specific place where incoming Sophomores can continue to play and become a part of tradition? The benefits run a gamut of possibilities. From older kids looking for a chance to play for the school before they graduate to younger kids who have not hit the growth spurt yet, the C team could become an invaluable tool. But it takes commitment from the entire coaching community.
Sources:
Why kids quit sport - BelievePerform - The UK's leading Sports Psychology Website
Why 70 percent of kids quit sports by age 13 - The Washington Post
Special Thanks to Sports Administrators at: Hobbs High School
Lovington High School
Artesia High School
