Starting this winter season, the Capital Valley Conference will no longer feature a level of play that is restricted to freshmen only. Instead the three levels of play will be varsity, junior varsity and frosh/soph. The frosh/soph level replaces the traditional freshman teams and can be a mix of freshmen and sophomores, if program choose to pursue that path. 

The decision came earlier this month at the athletic coordinators meeting on Oct. 4 and passed with a unanimous vote. The rule last year that allows juniors to play JV is also still in place.      

This rule was put into place mainly to save some of the freshman programs at schools who struggle to field enough freshman athletes to support a team.

For example, Granite Bay has always struggled to keep a freshman softball team, with this rule now in place if they have an absurd amount of sophomores they can now go down to help the freshman team from being terminated. 

Roseville athletic director Emily Dodds is on the athletic board and is highly in favor of the new rule.

“We decided as a league and the athletic board to put this rule into place to save some of the freshman programs in the league that don’t have the numbers,” Dodds said. “For the competition being played, this rule was in the best interest for our athletes and our programs to expand it to be frosh/ soph teams.”

According to Dodds, sophomores playing frosh/soph and juniors playing JV should not think of it as playing down or as an insult. Instead, she points out that coaches clearly value those players and expect them to develop while getting more playing time so that they can contribute to the program down the road and that a coach would not keep players in the program, thus taking a spot from and underclassmen, if they were not likely to play a role in the future. 

Last year’s varsity basketball team consisted of seven juniors and two sophomores, which means this year there are nine returning players. But according to varsity head coach Greg Granucci, he expects as many as 18 juniors to tryout looks to keep around 16 total players.

Therefore, Granucci believes this new rule is very beneficial to the basketball program in particular due to the fact that some juniors may play JV in order to keep them in the program.

In some students’ opinion, it may be an embarrassment to play frosh/soph basketball sophomore because there is a stigma that you aren’t  good enough to make JV. Coach Granucci believes kids shouldn’t take it as an embarrassment, but as a chance to get better.

“Right now we need you to get better, so next year you can help us,” Granucci said. “Right now maybe we have returners or other guys in the mix that are going to help us right now, but your development is going to help us next year.”

After previous freshman coach Doug Irwin stepped down to be the assistant varsity coach, PE teacher Josh Errecart stepped up and took the job. 

“I think it’s a great change,” Errecart said. “It’s going to be very beneficial to the school and all the sports programs. Especially basketball. It gives kids a chance to continue playing high school basketball and develop if they aren’t ready for JV yet.”

Also, a new rule that was put into place this year where at any level players can go up and down at any point of the season. For example on a Monday league game, a junior can play with the varsity team, then Friday, can get sent down and still play with the JV team.

Players, however, cannot play for both teams on the same day. 

This rule is beneficial because in baseball for instance, if a player gets hurt and are out for two weeks, they can pull up a sophomore to fill his place for those two weeks, then when he is recovered can send him back down. This is a benefit for the sophomore because now he gets to go back down and keep playing without having to sit the bench because the senior is back.

Dodds believes this rule will benefit the programs in a positive way and doesn’t see in advantage by getting to send kids up and down.

“This ruled was applied at the beginning of this school year, and I see nothing but positives to it,” Dodds said. “I think it took so long to make it a rule because teams saw it as an advantage to send kids up and down, but it’s not. It just allows the kids to not have to sit the bench, and allows them to play more.”