Schools

No Cut Policy for High School Sports Team Revised

District changes policy to allow cuts if the amount of team members exceeds a predetermined limit.

The school district has revised its no-cut policy for high school sports to allow coaches to make cuts when needed if the number of athletes on the team exceeds a predetermined limit.

Previously, students who signed-up for a team could not be cut unless he or she were to break a team policy, but due to an increased amount of student sign ups to some of the more popular sports, it has been determined that the size of a team can be too large resulting in limited opportunity for all team members and limited resources, explained Mike Scuilla, athletic director.

For example, if 60 students sign up for basketball only five would get to play in starting position, leaving a large number of remaining teammates on the benches, he said. Another example they could encounter is if 50 students were to sign up for baseball, the school would not have enough uniforms, coaches or even facilities to handle a team of that size, Scuilla explained.

The minimum amount of students that could be reduced from a team would be three, he said, as coaches would be able to accommodate one or two additional team members. There is a three-practice tryout period for all teammates. This revised policy does not affect coop sports where the school teams up with neighboring Wood-Ridge to fill out a team and therefore there would be no need for cuts, he said.

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Scuilla said their main focus is to handle any team reductions with the students’ self-esteem and best interests in mind. They want to make it as a good situation as possible and would encourage the students to go out for other sports which could use more athletes, he explained. Other sports teams like wrestling, tennis, bowling and track are always looking for more athletes to sign up, Scuilla said.

To protect the students from any type of embarrassment there would not be any roster made public anywhere in the schools listing who made a team or who was cut, he explained. If a coach must cut members of a team due to an excessive amount of sign-ups, he or she would address the students privately.

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The policy would be in affect for spring sports if the situation arises where a team exceeds its limit. Although a predetermined number has not been set for baseball or softball, Scuilla said so far there are about 27 to 28 students signed up and most likely there would not be any need to have to reduce the team size.

Scuilla added that if a student has been on a team for three years he or she would automatically be on that team during senior year.

This policy revision does not affect cheerleading as the no-cut policy for that team remains intact, Scuilla said.

 


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