Credit: WSPN staff

This year, 8th graders have been pulled up to make JV girls lacrosse and softball teams possible. “I think the group of girls on our team from the 8th grade class are really strong,” JV softball coach Mark Norton said.

This spring, in a shift for Wayland athletics, a group of 8th grade girls are stepping up to compete alongside older players to make a junior varsity softball team and girls JV lacrosse team possible.

With 17 high schoolers trying out for softball and 29 for girls lacrosse, there are too many girls to field only a varsity team, and too few to have a JV team and a varsity team. 11 8th graders for lacrosse and eight for softball, have been pulled up to the high school level to make teams of the typical numbers of 12, for softball, and 20, for lacrosse, possible.

“As the program grows, it was really helpful to just make sure we’re giving everybody an opportunity to play this season,” JV softball coach Mark Norton said.

While 8th grade waivers have been offered in the previous years for football and girls ice hockey, this is the first year that they have been extended to softball and girls lacrosse. These waivers only permit the 8th graders to play on the lowest offered team to take spots away from high school students.

“We don’t want to kill our middle school programs [with the waiver],” Assistant Athletic Director Erin Ryan said. “We do have a middle school softball team, so we want to make sure we’re not taking opportunities away from them.”

This year, Wayland Middle School (WMS) has enough 6th and 7th graders to field a softball team, allowing 6th graders to receive an extra year of field time. The waivers also allows the 8th grade girls lacrosse players to start high school sports a year early, as WMS does not offer contact sports teams.

“I think it’s really exciting,” Norton said. “As the program grows, it was really helpful to make sure we’re giving everybody an opportunity to play this season.”

According to Norton, one of the most difficult aspects of this transition is transportation. Busing students from WMS to WHS everyday can become complicated as the high school is over a mile away. End of the school day traffic can delay the arrival of the athletes, and practice begins only 30 minutes after the WMS dismissal bell. Some students worry that they do not have enough time to change clothes before practice.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to understand the times when practices start, sometimes our bus is late and sometimes we get there early and warm up with the varsity team,” 8th grade lacrosse player Ava Gagney said. “It really confuses the timing for people.”

According to Gagney, 8th graders are excited to be a part of the team and look forward to the years to come in the sport. The girls are hopeful for a good season and excited to have this extra year.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the 8th graders because we’re getting to experience what school sports are going to be like in high school,” Gagney said. “I’m really excited.”