Freshmen Finally Allowed To Play On Varsity Teams

Olathe South’s girls basketball team is undefeated — again — but there is a subtle difference this season when compared with seasons past.

Freshman Bailey Rinehart has started and contributed for the Falcons since the season opener thanks to a reorganization within the Olathe school district, the fifth-largest in the Kansas City metro area.

Prior to this fall, freshmen in Olathe attended junior high schools, which meant if a junior high had a particular athletic program, students couldn’t compete with the high school team except on a limited basis.

In most sports, it was never an issue, because the junior highs don’t field teams in soccer, cross country, baseball, softball and a handful of other sports.

But basketball was handcuffed by the rule, which permitted a freshman to play only three regular-season varsity games and only after the junior high season was finished. Volleyball teams also suffered.

Not anymore.

“We’ve moved into the 21st century, and now our freshmen can play, Falcons girls basketball coach Steve Ingram joked. But in all honesty, it does make a tremendous difference.”

Rinehart has stabilized what otherwise would have been a very thin Olathe South squad, giving the defending Kansas 6A state champs a legitimate shot to repeat.

“At least in this part of the state, Olathe and Lawrence were the only schools that didn’t have freshmen in the building, Olathe East boys basketball coach Jim Super said. It feels like we’re finally on a level playing field with everybody else, so I’m happy with it.”

The Hawks boys, 2-Oct, have a freshman post player on the varsity roster, Ezra Talbert. While he isn’t playing as much as he would have on a freshman squad at a junior high, he is facing much tougher competition each day in practice and is getting immersed in Super’s system much earlier.

“The biggest deal is having the freshmen in the gym every day to get beat up by the older kids, Olathe East girls basketball coach Clint Evans said. Going against the varsity every day, they are going to get better as players much faster than they would have even last year.”

Still, the biggest benefits aren’t for Olathe’s eight varsity basketball teams — five of which claimed midseason tourney titles over the past two weeks.

“I don’t think you can judge (the change) on this year, simply because the kids that are playing varsity on those teams are not freshmen, for the most part, Super said. To really see the impact, you’ll have to wait until these guys have moved up as a group and started playing varsity.”

For a program like Olathe North’s girls, which had bottomed out in recent seasons, the change has been a much-needed blessing.

The Eagles are only 3-10, but they are coming off a fifth-place finish at Topeka Washburn Rural’s Capital City Classic. Three freshmen — post player Syrra Lindsay and guards Lexa Stelting and Danielle Wolfe — played crucial roles in North’s 2-1 weekend.

“Having the freshmen has been huge for Olathe North, absolutely huge, Eagles coach Josh Price said. We’ve got 29 kids on the (program’s) four teams, and 23 are either freshmen or sophomores and totally new to the program. Just from the standpoint of learning the system and learning how to compete, all that is going to be huge the next four years.”

Of course, there are also programs that saw an immediate benefit, like Olathe South’s boys. Freshman Noah Knight is one of the top reserves for the Falcons, who are ranked No. 2 in The Star’s big-class boys poll.

“The rest of the league has had access to ninth-graders for a lot more time, and in the long haul varsity experience Noah is getting this year is going to help him make great strides, Falcons coach Jim Carr said. He improves every game, and we’re happy to have him. He’s even having more of impact than I thought he would have.”

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/02/03/2631585/change-in-district-policy-benefits.html#ixzz1D0OuCfOs

Freshmen Finally Allowed To Play On Varsity Teams

KansasCity.com

Olathe South’s girls basketball team is undefeated — again — but there is a subtle difference this season when compared with seasons past.

Freshman Bailey Rinehart has started and contributed for the Falcons since the season opener thanks to a reorganization within the Olathe school district, the fifth-largest in the Kansas City metro area.

Prior to this fall, freshmen in Olathe attended junior high schools, which meant if a junior high had a particular athletic program, students couldn’t compete with the high school team except on a limited basis.

In most sports, it was never an issue, because the junior highs don’t field teams in soccer, cross country, baseball, softball and a handful of other sports.

But basketball was handcuffed by the rule, which permitted a freshman to play only three regular-season varsity games and only after the junior high season was finished. Volleyball teams also suffered.

Not anymore.

“We’ve moved into the 21st century, and now our freshmen can play, Falcons girls basketball coach Steve Ingram joked. But in all honesty, it does make a tremendous difference.”

Rinehart has stabilized what otherwise would have been a very thin Olathe South squad, giving the defending Kansas 6A state champs a legitimate shot to repeat.

“At least in this part of the state, Olathe and Lawrence were the only schools that didn’t have freshmen in the building, Olathe East boys basketball coach Jim Super said. It feels like we’re finally on a level playing field with everybody else, so I’m happy with it.”

The Hawks boys, 2-Oct, have a freshman post player on the varsity roster, Ezra Talbert. While he isn’t playing as much as he would have on a freshman squad at a junior high, he is facing much tougher competition each day in practice and is getting immersed in Super’s system much earlier.

“The biggest deal is having the freshmen in the gym every day to get beat up by the older kids, Olathe East girls basketball coach Clint Evans said. Going against the varsity every day, they are going to get better as players much faster than they would have even last year.”

Still, the biggest benefits aren’t for Olathe’s eight varsity basketball teams — five of which claimed midseason tourney titles over the past two weeks.

“I don’t think you can judge (the change) on this year, simply because the kids that are playing varsity on those teams are not freshmen, for the most part, Super said. To really see the impact, you’ll have to wait until these guys have moved up as a group and started playing varsity.”

For a program like Olathe North’s girls, which had bottomed out in recent seasons, the change has been a much-needed blessing.

The Eagles are only 3-10, but they are coming off a fifth-place finish at Topeka Washburn Rural’s Capital City Classic. Three freshmen — post player Syrra Lindsay and guards Lexa Stelting and Danielle Wolfe — played crucial roles in North’s 2-1 weekend.

“Having the freshmen has been huge for Olathe North, absolutely huge, Eagles coach Josh Price said. We’ve got 29 kids on the (program’s) four teams, and 23 are either freshmen or sophomores and totally new to the program. Just from the standpoint of learning the system and learning how to compete, all that is going to be huge the next four years.”

Of course, there are also programs that saw an immediate benefit, like Olathe South’s boys. Freshman Noah Knight is one of the top reserves for the Falcons, who are ranked No. 2 in The Star’s big-class boys poll.

“The rest of the league has had access to ninth-graders for a lot more time, and in the long haul varsity experience Noah is getting this year is going to help him make great strides, Falcons coach Jim Carr said. He improves every game, and we’re happy to have him. He’s even having more of impact than I thought he would have.”

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/02/03/2631585/change-in-district-policy-benefits.html#ixzz1D0OuCfOs