This fall, the GA Athletic Department waived the no-cut policy, which prevented students from being released from sports teams. This policy change has affected many sports throughout the fall season, including volleyball, golf and girls’ tennis .
“There were certain programs that because of space, availability of coaching, and the sheer number of students that wanted to participate, we couldn’t house all of them,” Mr. Ginter said. An example Mr. Ginter talked about was volleyball. Last year, volleyball had approximately 40 players tryout, but only six players are allowed on the court at a time. As a result, many players are not able to participate.
Before the no-cuts policy, many people on the team never had a chance to play and they would end up staying on the bench during games. There is always a possibility that teams could play everyone, but that would inhibit the development of the team as a whole, and take time away from current varsity and future varsity players.
Most importantly, having too many athletes made practicing quite the hassle. With limited tennis courts, space in the gyms, and limited golf course times, some athletes have spent large parts of practice simply doing nothing. According to Mr. Ginter, waiving the no-cuts policy helps make it possible for the teams to develop and for everyone to be able to play.
There are also possible repercussions of this policy change. The student’s extracurricular credit requirement proves to be an important issue if the student is cut from a sport they intended on playing. However, even this may have an upside.
“I am also hoping that some of the sports that have been underrepresented through the years could maybe pick up a person or two,” Mr. Ginter said. If people get cut from their sport, they could join other sports, which leads to an opportunity for smaller sports teams to grow, such as the water polo teams, cross country, and the crew teams. Other non-athletic extracurriculars such as robotics, art club, or speech and debate may appeal to those looking for another activity credit.
The no-cuts policy has been around at GA on a year-to-year basis so this policy came as a shock to many students. However, the one sport that has had cuts has been golf on a year-to-year basis. With it being so hard to find course times the golf team has been having cuts for multiple years. Now adding on other sports having cuts helps smaller teams add new players and helps students try out new sports and activities.
Another important and increasingly relevant issue is what teams will waive the no-cut policy in the winter and spring. Although the specific teams have not been announced yet, there will most likely be one sport in the winter and one sport in the spring. Both of these teams are said to be the same sex.
The Edition also spoke with an student interviewee who wished to be anonymous. She was cut from the girl’s tennis team. The interviewee explained how she does not think the cuts were implemented fairly as the cuts were strictly based on point systems. Some people also had bad weeks during tryouts, and did not feel they were evaluated accurately.
Ultimately, many people are disappointed about the no-cuts policy being waived. However, this policy was put in place to better the sports teams and make it a better experience for both the players and the coaches alike.