More and more Spartans are participating in sports.
Artwork by Rebecca Holt
I love sports. I have been playing sports since I first played soccer as a six year old. Many Spartans participate in sports at the school, but did you know that 55% of the student body plays at least one sport? Out of the 1,150 current students at TJ, 635 participate in sports (with 377 boys and 255 girls involved in a sport).
Playing sports at TJ is one of my greatest memories of high school. Besides the camaraderie I share with my teammates, I just love the competitiveness. Sports make me work hard, both on and off the field. What sports does for high school-aged kids in general is amazing. Besides teaching them sportsmanship and teamwork, it also gives students a sense of confidence that cannot be gained anywhere else. “Half of our student body plays sports; they are active, and are held to higher standards. They receive encouragement from their coaches, and students can even achieve awards for their specific sport,” said TJ Athletic Secretary Cindy Allen.
Another thing sports at the school does for kids is it improves their grades in the classroom, as no kid wants to be ineligible and miss valuable playing time. Coaches also go the extra mile to make sure that students stay on the right path. “At the beginning of every week (Head Football Coach) Tim Owens gets eligibility reports and if your name is on the list then you are required to report to study hall every morning at 6:30 or else you won’t play in that week’s game,” said Senior Football Player Valentino Lamorie. “Those rules give me extra motivation because I do not want to wake up everyday and come to early study hall for football. Bad grades also do not look good for college,” Lamorie noted.
Sports creates different memories for everyone, “Sports are just fun!” exclaimed Senior Softball Player and Swimmer Lauren Kelsch. “I love playing sports and I don’t know what I would do without them,” she said.
The most popular sport at TJ is football, with an impressive 103 participants. “I think football is such a popular sport because it teaches individuals how to be part of a team. It teaches them discipline and both mental and physical toughness, all the while being an escape from the grind of daily life,” said Assistant Coach Matt Nicolo. Following football is a tie between boys’ basketball and girls’ volleyball, each with 51 players.
Sports are growing nationally as well. Figures have increased significantly with 55.2% of students nationwide participating in some type of sport. Nationally there is a new sport on the rise that is gaining momentum, and that is boys’ swimming and diving, which gained an increase of 29,967 participants from two years ago to this past year. “I think swimming and diving is a growing sport because it is an individual sport, so you do not have to rely on a team or other people. It also helps keep you in shape,” said Senior Swimmer Thomas Currington. The sport to see the second biggest participation jump (18,193 additional athletes) is cross country. Lacrosse, which is one of the emerging sports in recent years, had an additional 9,579 participants nation-wide in 2008-09.
Overall, the state with the most participants was Texas, with a total of 781,000 participants, followed by California with 771,465 participants. The great state of Colorado ranked 20th out of the fifty states with a total of 126,361 participants. 70,825 boys and 55,536 girls participate statewide.
Both male and female Spartans have a sport that they can both agree to love, and that is soccer. With 34 boys involved, and 45 girls also partaking, it is clear why soccer leads all sports (other than football) in total athlete participation with 79 total athletes. It is also the only sport on the list with more girls playing than boys. “Soccer is becoming a more popular sport each year. It’s a fun and great sport. The girls are able to promote it enough where we can get good numbers,” said Junior Anna Becker. Boys’ and girls’ basketball also has 79 participants, but of the 79 total participants, there are only 28 girls who play.
Sports also helps create memories that will last forever. “Our win versus Kent Denver this year was big. It put our team in a good place and we were the underdogs,” said Senior Soccer Player Tommy Moehlman. “I will never forget that win,” he added with a grin.
However, it should be known that not only do TJ students play sports, they also participate in many other extra curricular activities such as Drama, ROTC, and various other clubs. “Roughly 80% of the student body participates in at least some type of extracurricular activity,” said Allen.
So whether you’re running down a soccer ball on the soccer field, or whacking a golf ball 250 yards, or even spiking a ball in your opponents face, know that sports are an important part of the high school experience. Any extracurricular activity is a good way to have fun with kids our age and, also, it will help you in the classroom. And you will be better off because of it.
For more information on national and local sports participation statistics, visit www.nfhs.org.
