Parker’s men’s soccer team has lost their homecoming game against Latin 1-0. In the past, all three of Parker’s men’s soccer teams have played their Homecoming games against Latin on the Saturday of Homecoming. However, Athletic Director Nick Kocsis and the athletic department have made the decision to move the two junior varsity games to the Friday before Homecoming. Kocsis, along with other members of the athletic department, made this decision because the JV teams would “get their own spotlight on Friday night,” citing how in the past they didn’t draw the crowd that is hoped for since most people only show up to the varsity games.
According to varsity men’s soccer captain and senior Heath Albert, having the varsity team compete on its own day allowed an earlier start time and had fewer fans leave midway through the game to prepare for the dance. During the “second half of last year’s game, which is when we really needed the support, we were losing 1-0 … and we really could have used some fan support,” Albert said. During that second half, many members of the Parker community, specifically Upper School students, left. Albert attributed this to the little time in between the game and the Homecoming dance. If the game started earlier, students would feel less stressed about getting ready for the dance and could cheer on the Colonels for longer.
“The new times give [JV] a spot … and then we also give a chance for people to watch them. It’s not like in the morning and brushed to the side,” Albert said. The JV game started 30 minutes after classes ended on Friday, and was advertised as convenient to attend.“[The game] being Friday made it a lot easier for people to come,” JV Blue and Varsity soccer team member and sophomore Roberto Mickelson said. The game may not have had the turnout that it did if it had been scheduled on a school night. The fact that the JV games were on Friday night may have been key to their success.
Mickelson thinks the JV games went better because of the support. “Varsity attended JV blue games…[and] JV blue attended the varsity games…so we still went to support both teams,” Mickelson said. Though some may have been apprehensive of games being played on different games, it seems to have worked out for all teams, and the Parker community.