When former head football coach Keith Rawlings first arrived in 2007 and started to rebuild the Patriots football program, there was one particular detail that irked him.
“When I got here, the JV uniforms were garbage,” said Rawlings.
In his second season as head coach, Rawlings obtained new uniforms for not just the JV team, but for the varsity team as well, giving both teams the same uniform in an attempt to create a united Patriots football program.
In a setting where varsity teams grab headlines and JV teams remain nearly anonymous, Rawlings wanted all his players to feel that they were contributing.
When players on both JV and varsity have the same uniform, it “makes them feel like they are put on the same team.” Rawlings feels that there is too much separation by JV, varsity, and class, both in the classroom and on the playing field and he thinks the same uniforms create “equal treatment” of his players.
Tony Martin’s basketball program also followed suit this season, unveiling new uniforms with the same design for both varsity and JV.
Martin views the uniforms as “a way to have the kids respect each other. Everyone in our program will be treated with the same respect,” he said.
The idea of being one program in football and basketball is not lost on the players either. Sophomore basketball player Marcus James, who spent time during the 2009-2010 season on both JV and varsity said, “It helps everyone grow together as a family for the four years they are at JC and that builds chemistry on the court.”
“JV is critical to the program’s success,” said Rawlings. “It’s where you build the foundation. The whole purpose is preparing players for varsity.”
Rawlings cited sophomore Raphael Odouk as a player whose development was enhanced at the JV level, allowing him to contribute at the varsity level. Odouk was brought up to varsity for the second-to-last-game of the season where he record one tackle in a 30-19 loss to Archbishop Spalding. The next week he started the final game of the season, a 27-14 win over Archbishop Curley, where he recorded seven tackles and recovered a fumble from the middle linebacker position.
Odouk had his doubts about making the first varsity start of his career. “At first I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous than I really was,” said Odouk. “But I was just excited to be out there playing.”
Despite being on varsity at the end of the season, Odouk doesn’t discount his JV experience. “If I was to go to varsity straight [from the beginning of sophomore year] it would have been hard,” he said. Instead, he was able to play and thrive at the JV level before giving varsity coaches a preview of what he was capable of doing during those last two games.
“You think of it being two games, but that’s enough,” he said. “Other people on varsity next year won’t have that experience.”
Martin called his JV team his program’s “talent pool” and “a developmental program” although his philosophy varies based on the level of competition. In 2009-2010, his team was extremely young with only two seniors, which meant that players like James, fellow sophomore Van Rolle, and freshman Rodney Elliott were pulled up from JV and saw significant action on varsity. Like Odouk, Rolle and James both credit their time on JV as an important reason as to why they were able to contribute.
“I developed how to create for myself and my teammates and how to play defense,” said Rolle. “Coach Martin helped me on my technique on JV and then polished it on varsity for my junior year.”
Rolle also enjoys the sense of community that is created by having all the players in one program practicing with and being around each other constantly. “We all practice together, hang out in school together, after school together, and on weekends,” said Rolle. “We’re part of the same program.”
While on JV, James learned how to lead. “My freshman year on JV, I had to be a follower, but following the experienced players made me a good captain the next year,” he said. “So when I got moved up to varsity, I already knew how to follow the right players to make the team better and fulfill my role.”
Martin also points to former player Erick Smith, class of ’09, as a prime example of how JV can help a player. Smith played JV his freshman and sophomore years before moving up in his junior and senior years. Through his play, he earned a Division I scholarship to Bryant University in Smithfield, RI, where he is averaging 3.3 points per game as a freshman.
Both Martin and Rawlings feel that the most important part of presiding over a program is making sure players respect each other and realize they are indeed part of a program and not two totally separate entities.
“You’re all in it together,” Odouk said. “JV is varsity and varsity is JV.”
Daniel Gallen can be reached for comment at [email protected].