Every Sunday night, Bryce Poston, a sophomore baseball player, waits to see what team he will play on for that week. In most sports, athletes are placed on one team at the beginning of the season — freshman/sophomore, junior varsity or varsity — but the baseball team rosters change weekly, allowing players like Bryce to gain experience at different levels of play.
The idea of athletes playing for multiple teams is common among other U-High sports teams. These athletes are considered “double-rostered.” They will practice and compete with two different teams during the same season.
This phenomenon plays out differently for every individual athlete, and while it allows students to play at a more competitive level, it can also prove challenging to balance with school work and other extracurricular activities.
Bryce has played for both JV and varsity baseball teams this season. This has proved to be a high time commitment, forcing him to learn to handle his responsibilities as a student and an athlete.
“Juggling my homework and keeping up with other things while also going to all these games has been something I’ve had to learn how to do,” Bryce said. “There’s a lot of travel and movement involved in it as well as a lot of logistics with my family.”
Although being a double-rostered student athlete is time consuming, Bryce believes there are perks to being able to work with both teams.
“On varsity, we have a very high competitive level, and I still get to play with them and get in the game,” said Bryce. “But then on JV, I have a lot more freedom. I get a lot more playing time in positions that I am more used to.”
Head baseball coach Luke Zavala believes that double-rostering baseball players helps them develop in positions they might not be as good at through playing in JV games.
“You might have players who aren’t varsity pitchers right now, but might be in a couple years,” Mr. Zavala said. “They might be a JV pitcher and a varsity outfielder or infielder. It allows for those players to still develop.”
This season, ninth grader Kate Stackert is playing goalkeeper with both JV and varsity girls soccer teams.
“Because I work with both teams, I’m able to get a lot more experience and also learn different things from both teams and different skills,” Kate said.
Kate was originally placed on JV, but when her coach asked her to move up to varsity for a game, she was up to the challenge. She has since spent some of her time playing for varsity, while still playing with JV most of the time.
Kate said, “It’s really important to balance your schoolwork with practice and to manage your time well.”
Additional reporting by Sohana Schneider.
