Scheduling issues affect some JV teams attendance at Sting

Students+fill+the+bleachers+to+cheer+on+the+Football+team+at+the+Fall+Sting.+The+Football+team+came+away+with+a+35-19+win+over+Poly+Prep+Country+Day.+The+Athletic+Department+is+working+toward+being+able+to+host+all+JV+and+Varsity+games+on+campus+for+Sting+so+that+everyone+can+come+support+Hackley+athletic+teams.+

Credit: Zoe Naughton

Students fill the bleachers to cheer on the Football team at the Fall Sting. The Football team came away with a 35-19 win over Poly Prep Country Day. The Athletic Department is working toward being able to host all JV and Varsity games on campus for Sting so that everyone can come support Hackley athletic teams.

By Hannah Ostfield, Staff Writer

The Hackley Stings were created by parents involved in the HPA who wanted to give the lower and middle school students the opportunity to take part in the widespread school spirit of the upper school. The face fainting and bouncy castles sparked excitement in the younger kids, making them want to attend the Stings with their friends. By participating in these festivities and then later watching varsity games, the lower schoolers had the chance to see and become excited about the high school sports they would later participate in. 

While the initial goal of the Sting was to inspire and excite younger kids about upper school spirit, this poses a problem for the many upper school athletes that are unable to participate in this spirit themselves.

The Stings are some of the very few times during the year when the whole school can get together and celebrate Hackley’s athletic accomplishments and teams. At large events like these, the whole school, including all of the sports teams, should be there. However, the scheduling of JV games on Stings make it very difficult for these athletes to make it back to Hackley in time to see and take part in Sting festivities.

For each Sting, the varsity teams play on campus for the rest of the school to see and cheer on while JV teams are bussed to other schools to play at the same time. By the time that JV teams finish their games and get back to school, they have missed the majority of the varsity games. This schedule has become frustrating for JV athletes because they can never watch or support their friends who are playing back on campus. In a close community like Hackley, it is even more important for other teams to go and cheer on their friends.

Regarding this issue, tenth grade student Abbey Schiller noted, “It isn’t fair to JV teams that they have to be away during the Sting because they should able to support their friends.” Not only JV, but varsity athletes like Abbey also feel that all sports teams should be together for the Sting because Sting is supposed to be a school wide event.

Another tenth grade student, Alex Kirchgassner noted, “I’m on Football so I’ve never had a game away on Sting so I really appreciate that I can go. I like going to the Stings too, I feel like it’s a good way to support the school and everyone should be able to go.” Alex agrees that Stings are a part of Hackley culture and they are only better when the whole school has the ability to go.

Preventing a large portion of the high school, specifically those interested in sports, from attending the Stings takes away from the community aspect of the event. JV players often look up to those on varsity, hoping to one day be on the team themselves. It would be beneficial and also very fun for these players to be able to go to varsity games and learn something from observing those players.

It isn’t fair to JV teams that they have to be away during the Sting because they should able to support their friends.

— Abbey Schiller

Director of athletics at Hackley, Jason Edwards, gave his thoughts on this scheduling issue: “In our league matrix, JV and Varsity games are scheduled on the same days, typically Wednesdays and Fridays and Stings are on Fridays. We are working on being able to host all teams for Stings, the issue is that if we host all teams for Sting, the other school needs to host all of our teams another day, but most can’t accommodate for this.”

With the new spacious Johnson Center, the athletics department is working to host for the winter Sting, but scheduling with other schools is difficult to coordinate. With all sports teams and increased attendance at Stings, there would be more fans and supporters to spread our school spirit.