Caught in the Middle : Sidelined by Budget Cuts, Most JV Players Sit and Wait

Football just hasn’t been the same for junior varsity players this season.

Since the termination of the junior varsity football program in City Section schools last year, most JV players have found themselves filling water bottles, fastening chin straps and leading cheers for their varsity counterparts during Friday games.

The JV player is the middle child of the school football family. He misses the attention and nurturing that the younger, still-developing freshman and sophomore Bee players receive from the coaches, and he longs for the recognition and respect given to members of the varsity squad.

The limelight for varsity players intensified when the playoffs started Friday. The JV players--many of whom, according to coaches, are high-caliber athletes--found themselves even deeper in the shadows.

JV players “practice with varsity, sweat with the varsity and make the grades like the varsity,” said Lincoln Coach Randy Rodriguez. “They deserve to play as much as the varsity does.”

But because of budget cuts and a complex eligibility system, they can’t.

Eligibility is based on a point system. Each player is assigned points based upon his height, weight and age. If the point total adds up to less than 89, the player is eligible for Bee leagues, as long as he is under age 15. If the total equals 90 or above, he is eligible for varsity.

Bigger and older players are assigned more points, and since J. V. players are generally juniors and seniors, their age usually pushes their point total above 90, rendering them ineligible for Bee football. On the other hand, most JV players are not skilled enough to play at the varsity level, leaving them caught in the middle.

Until last year, JV players could at least participate in their own games, usually played on Monday afternoons. But when the Los Angeles Unified School District eliminated the JV program as a cost-cutting measure in 1991, the players found that all they could do was sit on the bench and hope to be used as a third-string replacement during varsity games.

“I usually play in the final minutes, when the game is over,” said Bell High senior Juan Cuevas, who is listed as a backup linebacker and a member of special teams. “I’ll take what I can get, but I don’t really like it.”

This season, Cuevas and his fellow JV players on City Section 3-A Division power Bell have expended most of their energy during games walking up and down the sidelines.

The brilliant play of the starters and supporting casts, who have guided the Eagles to a 9-1 season record, has kept the JV members holding their helmets.

“It’s a sad situation,” said Bell Co-Coach Henry Santiago. “The only way they’d ever get into a game is by a serious injury to our first- and second-stringers.”

In a 35-0 win over Jordan in its final regular season game, Bell had to make several line-up changes because of the suspensions of quarterback Omar Rodriguez, tailback Bobby Sullivan, fullback Rene Ramirez, linebacker Tony Hernandez and linebacker Israel Moreyra, all of whom were cut by Coach Ray Galarze after they were found at a party during school hours.

Galarze then named senior Nelson Menendez, a JV player, to start at free safety against Jordan. “I usually don’t get to play, so I had a lot of fun,” Menendez said.

For Cuevas and the other Bell JV players, the only chance left to impress the coaches and contribute to the team usually comes during practice.

“I fill in for Vince (Delgado) during practice,” senior wide receiver Anacleto Zamora said. “I run the plays while he is on the sidelines, so that he doesn’t have to run every play and risk injury. I’d like to be first, but I don’t mind being second.”

Playing time for athletes like Menendez was curtailed after a June, 1991, decision by the Los Angeles school district, which ordered a 20% cut in City Section athletics.

Director of City Athletics Hal Harkness organized a meeting of teachers, principals and coaches from the schools to discuss where the cuts would be made. Junior varsity football was targeted.

“The JV football program was cut because one-third of the schools didn’t have a team, and the ones who did didn’t have an organized schedule,” Harkness said. Stipends for JV coaches and transportation were subsequently eliminated.

“The JV program was contingent on every school fielding a team,” Harkness said. “Since that wasn’t happening, we felt that some of the schools were just abusing the stipend.”

Santiago said he remains unhappy about the decision.

“Athletics, football in particular, is No. 1 in keeping high school kids off the street,” Santiago said. “If we just let these kids go, there is no telling where they could end up.”

Lincoln coach Rodriguez came up with a solution to the problem. This season, Rodriguez scheduled games between Lincoln’s Bee team and its JV players on Mondays.

“The (JV) players really get fired up for Mondays,” Rodriguez said. “The players know that if they don’t get to play on Friday night, that they’ll have their time to shine on Monday.

“If they’re good enough to play at the varsity level, I bring them up,” Rodriguez said. “If they aren’t good enough to play varsity, they play Bees, regardless.”

Left guard Hilario Ramirez, right tackle Steve Gonzalez and right guard Oliver Arroyo are all former JV players who start on Lincoln’s offensive line.

Up 22-0 at halftime against Hollywood on Oct. 30, Rodriguez allowed his JV players to take the field in the second half. Neither team scored in the third or fourth quarters, but Rodriguez scored big points with the JV players.

“I had a great time out there,” defensive tackle Sean Super said. “We really wanted to play and show what we could do.”

But it’s evident that the senior JV players for Lincoln may not play another down in high school football with the advent of the playoffs.

“We know at halftime if we aren’t winning big, we won’t play,” Super said last week, prior to Friday’s first-round playoff game against Carson.