THE JAYVEE : People on Junior Varsity Teams Don’t Get a Great Deal of Attention, but They’re More Concerned With the Future Than the Present

Baseball has its minor leagues, corporate America its claustrophobic mail rooms and politics its city council posts.

These are places where dues are paid, and nobody understands these dues better than the most under-recognized group of individuals in high school athletics: the junior varsity.

Like its varsity big brother, the junior varsity boys’ basketball team at Coronado High School has experienced crushing defeats and unforeseen victories. But unless JV players make their mark in another varsity sport or in a school club or student body office, they are virtual nonentities on campus. Media types are appalled when a JV coach even thinks to report a score. The junior varsity is an after-thought in a thousand respects.

“The primary purpose of the JVs is to get them ready for varsity,” said Thor Dekker, Coronado’s first-year junior varsity coach. “They don’t have the fundamentals at this level that they should have gotten in sixth or seventh grade. This is where you learn, because you can’t win without fundamentals.”

A JV player waits for his chance at the big time much like an understudy waits for the moment the lead actor falls suddenly ill.

If a JV player has an older sibling, he is already accustomed to the hand-me-down syndrome: functional but used uniforms, warmup suits, travel bags--when they’re available--and equipment.

“We don’t have nice uniforms,” Dekker said. “The numbers are falling off, they don’t look that great. But that’s good, it’s a driving force to get the kids to a varsity level.”

James Skaalen and Jack Bowen agree. Both are sophomores playing under Dekker for the second time (they were on his freshman team) and both have been instrumental in the change of direction the team has taken after an 0-6 start, when games were lost by as many as 40 points. As members of the section champion water polo team, both have varsity experience.

“I don’t want really nice uniforms,” said Bowen, who is the team’s leading scorer with a 16-point average. “You know, sometimes you’ll see teams with really nice uniforms, trimmed with gold cord, and I’m not impressed. That’s not how you earn respect.”

Said Skaalen: “This is just a training ground for varsity. Wearing used uniforms doesn’t really matter.”

With court time so coveted, JVs sometimes greet the dawn with dribbling drills. In the evening, when they should be hitting books, some are hitting backboards instead. Some play in odd locations such as abandoned churches, while some--with simply nowhere else to go--are forced outdoors.

Depending on the program and discretion of the varsity coach, JVs work out with either the varsity or freshman teams. The Islanders loosen up each night in the weight room while the varsity finishes up in the gym, then play from 5:30 to 7 with the freshmen, which forces them to practice at half-court.

“Half-court is where the fundamentals are learned,” Dekker said. “Defensive slides, screening out, hitting the outlet man. Full-court is more for the transition game.”

But half-court practice does get frustrating. “We get full-court practice once a week,” Dekker said. “How can you work on a full-court game when you never get to practice it?”

Coaches and officials at this level are part of a giant degreening process, qualified but often young and inexperienced. At Coronado, the JV coach is paid $1,674, compared to $2,232 for the varsity. Decker said the money isn’t important. “That’s not why I’m doing this,” he said.

“The difference in varsity and JV coaches is primarily experience, of course,” said Robbin Adair, Coronado’s athletic director. “We try and get credentialed teachers first, then it’s a matter of experience. We thought all along that Thor would do well in the JV slot. He seems to do real well with that age group.”

Dekker, 24, a June graduate of UCSD, coached Coronado’s freshman team for two years before being elevated to the JV, where he said the learning process never stops.

“I’m learning,” Dekker said. “The pace of the game gets faster as you go up the ladder. A simple offense at the freshman level would be torn up at this level the same as a JV offense would be torn up at the varsity level. It takes trial and error to see what works.”

He is regarded highly by varsity Coach Bob Stanton and the kids he coaches but said he isn’t ready for a varsity position--yet.

“As far as moving up,” he said, “I’m content with what I’m doing. Varsity would be a new experience. Right now, I don’t know if I’d be ready for a varsity team. Maybe after one more year at this level.”

Stanton says, “The kids respect Thor.” And, he added, “he doesn’t have a great lot of talent, and to his credit, he’s gotten them to play together.”

The JV teams endure sparse crowds that increase only when they share twin billing with the varsity, when first-place is at stake or when a cross-town rival is involved.

“The difference in crowds is night and day,” Adair said. “The varsity crowd starts filtering in 40 minutes before the game, while the JVs are still playing. Usually, there’s not 50 people in the gym for a JV game. Our gym holds 400 and is filled to capacity for varsity. There’s a big discrepancy.”

But JV players don’t need the spark of the crowds to enhance their play.

“They accept the fact that people are coming to watch the varsity,” Dekker said. “They rely on themselves for motivation.”

Skaalen said friends don’t take into consideration what the level of play is. “I see a lot of our close friends at our games. They’re going to be there anyway, it doesn’t matter if it’s a JV or varsity game.”

As a junior varsity coach with few tangibles to offer his players other than experience and the lure of the varsity, Dekker said he was surprised there was no player fallout after the Islanders’ dismal beginning.

“I didn’t lose anyone,” Dekker said. “I was pretty amazed.” Two of his players didn’t make grades, but remaining team members toughed it out.

Now 10-12 and 7-8 in the Metro Conference, Coronado has recorded upset victories over Castle Park and Southwest, leading teams in the league. On Wednesday, the Islanders lost, 48-45, to Hilltop, a team that beat them by 20 in their first meeting; they routed Mar Vista, 85-54, Friday.

Somewhere between 0-6 and 10-12, pessimism and mediocrity evolved into perseverance and respectability.

“I think Coronado is used to getting beat, so they accepted it at first,” Dekker said. “But I’m not used to getting beat, and my attitude carried over.”

Said Bowen: “It wasn’t real satisfying at first. I wasn’t used to playing on a team like that. I give a lot of credit to Thor. He went over all the plays that we should have known about all along. That helped a lot.”

“We knew something was wrong,” Skaalen said. “It was embarrassing. We finally got tired of the attitude that, ‘Oh, this is Coronado. No problem.’ ”

He’s here for the satisfaction. After knocking off Castle Park and Southwest, “I just couldn’t describe how I felt,” he said. “It was indescribable. It makes coaching worth it.”

Stanton says Dekker approached him at the beginning of season with little optimism. “He told me he had kids who couldn’t even dribble,” Stanton said. “He was really discouraged. He didn’t think we’d win a game all season, and I agreed with him.”

At Coronado, one basketball tryout is held in November to pick the varsity, junior varsity and freshmen teams. Placement is contingent on experience, playing ability and what serves the best interests of the player and the program, according to Stanton, Dekker and freshman Coach Julian Rubalcaba.

Dekker said there are young kids capable of playing varsity but that the best interests of the player are more likely to be served at the JV level.

“Some of them are ready,” he said, “but they wouldn’t play as much.

“I think most kids would rather play varsity. They see all the glory in varsity, but there’s a level of confidence gained by playing JV that you don’t get on the varsity if you don’t have much experience.”

Besides, playing time is the bottom line for many players.

“I’d much rather play JV all the time then sit on the varsity bench,” Bowen said. “I’ll learn a lot more here than I will with a varsity letter, just sitting on the bench. Who wants to sit on a bench? It’s more fun for me here, giving it my all. Next year, I’d definitely like to be key player on the varsity.”

Skaalen said JV time is proving time.

“This is a testing ground,” Skaalen said. “We know we have to work our way up and prove ourselves. We’re always trying to improve for varsity.”

Just a start on paying life’s dues, with a down payment that seems well worth it.