Junior Varsity (JV) is a level of athletic competition comprised mostly by underclassmen in which teams compete just as rigorously as varsity to gain experience in the sport they play.

Such as the minor leagues in baseball or the collegiate ranks before a professional sport, JV is a supplementary system which teaches players the fundamentals of a sport before they compete on the varsity level.

This is not to say that JV is a lesser field of competition, it is just as important to the success of an athletic program. This is especially true for Varela where the entire sports program counts on the accomplishments of JV.

“JV is very integral to the success of our school sports because students in JV are the future. It’s very important that they come on board to learn and train themselves so that when varsity graduates, those athletes will be able to take over and maintain the success of former teams,” said athletic director Mr. Andy Chiles.

Most games take place earlier in the afternoon or right before the varsity team plays. Our Viper JV squads have given coaches what is expected, the physical and mental preparation of athletes.

In many of the teams, this season was full of adversity but the players showed strength to pull through.

The JV football team was faced with a depleted schedule (a couple teams forfeiting and a game being rained out) and only played four times, but the defense was disciplined enough so that the head coach was impressed with their play.

“We have a few defensive guys who can make an impact on varsity next year,” said Coach John Stoltenborg. Frank Macias and Oscar Garcia were players mentioned as part of a roster that struggled through a tough situation but played hard until the end.

In Girls JV Basketball, Coach Yetsenia Lara saw a group of freshman and sophomores lead a team to the best mark of any of its predecessors in recent years.

“The team hasn’t been strong the last couple of years, but the girls put in a lot of hard work and some long hours to improve the team,” she said.

Some players were so impressive that toward the end of the season they were moved up to play varsity. Jasmine Pierre, Janelle Guillama and Ellie Goralnick performed with excellence and have already impacted the varsity team.

Each sport has had key performers that expect to make the jump to varsity and look forward to the opportunity. One of those players moving to varsity is Girls JV Soccer captain Kaylee Aguilar.

“Though we had a short season, I think I gained a lot of experience with a good team here and will be able to keep up with the change to varsity next year,” she said.

Varela has an elite JV program and all nine JV teams contributed positively to the school this year as they have since the program’s conception many years back.

From football to wrestling they have served their purpose efficiently as they have produced athlete after athlete armed with the tools necessary to give our school pride in our varsity sports.

With the success of our JV program this past year, it is obvious that Varela sports will be on the path to continue its paramount success next year and many more to come.