By Quinn Sullivan,
Staff Writer.
Santa Rosa High School has had a prominent sports student body presence throughout its history. Tensions at Santa Rosa High due to budget issues within the district are causing students to isolate from each other and school-based activities no longer seem to draw in a huge collective of students.
There have been many drastic changes to these sports teams due to the drop in participation that have overall affected the student body and are damaging the sports history of SRHS sports. While Santa Rosa cannot get rid of sports completely, the cut in the percentage of students that attend tryouts and dedicate themselves to school sports has diminished rapidly, which concerns many that an important part of school culture is being ignored and undermined by the district.
Santa Rosa Volleyball, for example, went from one of the most competitive and prestigious sports teams Santa Rosa offered to a forgotten sport. This year, the JV team started their season with seven players, and varsity with eleven. The JV team was already almost disqualified this season because of declining numbers. SRHS Volleyball is dissolving, taking down the fulfillment, joy and friendships many get from the sport, and something must be done about it.
Many players are frustrated that they are missing crucial details of school volleyball with the decline in participation. Without a full team, players miss out on opportunities for community as well as rest times. “I’ve made some of my closest friendships, and it has saved my high school life,” said senior Davina Vota. She spoke of how more promotion to get more girls involved would help many others to make friends and build a school community.
“We have all been stretched thin you know, with so little of us,” said freshman Dayana Ruiz Lopez. This is Ruiz Lopez’s first year playing, and she expressed concern for how stressed all the JV girls were due to all the compromises the team had to make with so few players. Remembering that sports are meant to relieve stress and not add to the weight of high school students means we need help from the student body.
Panthers, please support your school’s teams and show up for your fellow players, as this is one of the greatest ways to build community at Santa Rosa High!
