This spring I will join a JV team for my fourth straight year. 

You may be thinking, are you a JV athlete because you can’t make varsity? And to that I say no. I try out for JV.  In other words, I want to be on JV *gasp*

I know this may come as a shock to some. But I truly have no desire to be on a varsity team. In my eyes JV is just competitive enough without feeling like every game is cutthroat. For someone who is not very competitive, it’s perfect.

Don’t get me wrong: I like to win but I’m not going to be upset if I lose. I don’t want to spend every afternoon focusing on a sport. I don’t want it to be my life. I’m not sure if that’s a bad trait to have or not but that’s just how I am. 

So I’ve tried to avoid varsity my whole high school career. Freshman and sophomore year I played fresh/soph tennis. When I could no longer play on that team, I played on JV for my junior and senior year. 

In the spring, I played soccer for the Freshman B team. The following year I tried out for JV B and got cut so I then went to badminton tryouts and made JV 1. Ever since sophomore year, I have played on JV 1 with no desire to play for the varsity team.

I love that the teams are easy going. It’s actually fun, just like when we were kids. The pressure is low and the teammates are competent without the intensity. No one is working out at 5 a.m. There are no team workouts outside of practice. We’ll do a couple of laps and call it a day. 

I am perfectly happy with this balance of playing the sport for fun without all the pressure.   

I think we live in a time where there is a lot of pressure to be the star athlete on varsity. It’s great to have goals and to play at the highest level possible for those who are really passionate. But for me I know a number of my friends who have the same mindset as me and are completely comfortable with it.

I know every school is different with the rules of at a certain grade you need to make varsity and I hope that never happens to the sports I have participated in here at the high school because I wouldn’t have it any other way.