Change is good, but it’s hard to make everyone happy. When new Athletic Director Bobby Starks and new Assistant Athletic Director Laura Gill inherited the current jersey situation from Dawn Wickstrum and Elisa Ryan, ex-AD and ex-Assistant AD, respectively, they had to make a change.

It began in August, when over 50 boys showed up on Day 1 of soccer preseason, more than Parker has had in recent years. While it’s great that so many guys came out, there are logistics that have to be figured out: namely the number of pinnies, uniforms, and socks that need to be distributed to each player. Gill was on the task almost immediately, ordering new jerseys for the Varsity team, while JV would wear the old Varsity uniforms.

The jersey situation was not a new one. Last year, the JV squad did not have enough jerseys for the whole team, so the team had to wear the girls’ soccer team jerseys. To be honest, it was humiliating. The jerseys were tight-fitting and too small. They were clearly not made for male bodies. It’s a good thing we didn’t have to wear the girls’ shorts.

Field hockey also received new uniforms this fall. Seeing as field hockey and soccer are the most popular sports at Parker, I don’t have a problem with the teams getting new uniforms.

Yes, I said that. Don’t freak out. Here’s why I don’t have a problem with that, and why neither should anyone else: soccer and field hockey are the most popular sports in the fall season, with homecoming centered around them. It doesn’t get much better than that. If you are the most popular sport, you deserve to benefit from it. Sorry, cross country, but few people want to go to your races that are two hours away in Lisle.

I’m going to be very blatant here and spell it out for all the complainers out there: nobody wants to travel a long time to watch a sporting event, and they don’t want to watch bad sports. If our volleyball or tennis teams were good, more people would come to games. Also, it doesn’t help that tennis plays at an inconvenient location like Waveland.

A few weeks ago, there was a Small Groups meeting led by Rebecca Ross about the preferential treatment of certain sports teams. The meeting mainly consisted of members from less popular teams complaining about how their sport doesn’t get any attendance.

One thing discussed was the priority of the field and which teams take precedence over others. I think most athletes in the high school can agree we should get the field over middle school. But that’s not the issue. A few people suggested the teams with the greatest amount of athletes should take priority over a team that needs the field to practice for a big game, but that is just wrong. Flat out wrong. A soccer team practicing for State should be the number one priority. That team, while it may not be the largest, is playing the best and deserves to practice for their big day. A losing team should not take priority over the team doing the best.

Soccer gets the most publicity and the most attendance. Everyone knows that. But instead of complaining, let’s think about why that is. To start off, they have reached State twice in the past five years and have moved up a Class, into 2A now, because of that. It’s fun to watch good sports, and soccer has been that go-to game for many years.

When girls’ soccer was good a few years ago, a ton of people went to their games. It was great to see them do so well and eventually place second in State. If other teams— boys and girls-– could follow that trend, it would cause a spike in attendance.

Basketball gets the second most attendance, in front of field hockey. A lot of people don’t understand the rules of field hockey and, at times, it can be very anti-climactic. Basketball, on the other hand, is a sport that’s easy to follow, and it is just more exciting.

This is what Parker needs to hear, and I am not afraid to be the one who says it. If others won’t say it, I will.