Pros And Cons Of Roster Cuts

Varsity sports are important aspects of life for high schools and towns. The teams represent the school and the town alike in what talent the team brings to the competition. Many schools have roster cuts due to the increasing number of players going out for sports, and it also teaches character to students so they work hard for their dreams. Streator High School is one of these schools that participates in having cuts. Some people disagree with cuts, but evidence suggests that in order to have the best team and have the correct number of hard working, and character driven athletes, roster cuts for varsity sports should continue to be allowed at Streator High School. Some people have grown to not be in favor of the roster cuts in high school.

One huge reason that roster cuts should stay at Streator High School is that there is not enough money or space for new, extra programs and coaches due to all the students wanting to play sports. Temkin (13) states “Talk to athletic directors, though, and you hear of teams already practicing at 5:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. because of lack of gym space, of fundraising dollars already earmarked for basics and of a lack of qualified coaches, especially ones willing to volunteer.” As much as it is inconvenient, there are too many extra expenses to be able to have more programs and new qualified coaches. Another reason why roster cuts are necessary is because a coach can only effectively coach so many players. For example, this year on the varsity soccer team at Streator there were 27 players. Though the correct number is eighteen to twenty, so everybody gets enough playing time and everybody can improve in practice, there were no cuts on the team. When only 11 players are on the field at a time, it becomes increasingly difficult to be able to give everybody adequate coaching and playing time. This goes for each varsity sport, if there are too many kids on the team, then there will be quite a few kids on the bench that never see playing time and don’t get enough coaching. Therefore, the overpopulation of student athletes contributes to the need for roster

Rerick states that “...coaches HATE having to tell students who are motivated and excited about playing that they aren’t good enough. For our sports that cut, I can say without hesitation that cut day is one of the toughest of the season on everybody.” In other words, it is not the coaches’ faults. They try to make the process as sensitive as possible. All coaches can do is hope that nobody is too hurt by the decision that is for the good of the team. Therefore, coaches are having to make the decision for the good of the