Here on our Roosevelt campus we have many successful sports and talented athletes who play and represent our school to the best of their abilities. The sports programs here have always been top tier and we’ve been able to competed with each and every team in our district and even teams that make it to CIF and State.

With these successes comes a support system from our advisors, teachers, admin, family, and students. But here on our Roosevelt campus I feel some sports are supported and favored in our administration and AP’s eyes. Many sports teams are feeling as if the hard work they put into their team here on campus is being overlooked.

The support differences between sports teams here on campus is growing wider and wider. We can see who is favored and put as a priority on our campus and I believe it is unfair.

This past week many athletes and parents who are part of softball, girls soccer, and girls basketball were quite upset about the fact that they did not receive a signing day on their required signing day. In past years there has always been two signing days; one for those who were signing early and one for those who would sign in the spring. For some unknown reason our administration and AP’s failed to plan anything to acknowledge our students life changing choice and the hard work and time spent getting to that incredible goal. It is upsetting to me and many others the lack of acknowledgement these athletes are getting from the people who should be supporting and cheering us on the most.

Now, it’s not all about the little acknowledgment they have received, but about the unfairness that was brought to light. We are forced to wait until February for a signing day that is not truly ours. That signing day is only significant to football and basketball players who usually sign later in the year. They get to sign then, when their excitement is still high and it’s a true real feeling. They get all the acknowledgement they deserve while other sports weren’t acknowledged on their initial signing day and are forced to wait until February to do a mock signing when they have truly been signed for months. Gisselle Zaragoza took to Twitter and said, “so sad to see that our female athletes were not recognized at erhs on today’s signing day!!” This goes to show that people are seeing the different treatment between sports teams.

That is one significant time it was clear where our schools priority stood, but that’s not the only thing. Football and basketball are the most advertised sports here on campus while other sports, game times, and events are not advertised at all. There should be a push for equal love and support from our school as there is for football and basketball. I want to hear all sports teams’ schedules and successes on the loud speaker during announcements. I want to see as much effort being put into other sports recaps on the news just as much as the football game recaps.

As I said before, many people are noticing and many are speaking out about it. I had the chance to speak to Patty Zarate, Varsity coach for girls basketball, who said, “I do think boys basketball and football are a priority.” These sports are the most prioritized and I feel it is unfair to sports who are doing just as good as them, if not better. To see another side of the story I took it upon myself to talk to Kenzel Lawler, a varsity football player. Lawler said, “I don’t think admin or our AP support football and basketball more, I think it’s more or less that football is a big money maker for the school and then you have basketball who also is a big money maker for the school.” Although Lawler made a point that they do make money for the campus, I still do not believe that they should get more support and acknowledgement from our admin and AP’s. The amount of money you make for the campus should not determine the support and energy the leaders here put into other sports and the effort they put into getting word out. After further questioning, Lawler said, “if I’m being honest, the support here is not equal and a lot of sports don’t get love.” I feel that people who get love, like football and basketball, tend to beat around the bush about the unequal support here on our campus and they don’t want to admit it. But it is truly unequal. ” Tamra Clairborne, a varsity soccer player, also said, “I just feel like they truly don’t care for any other sports and it sucks because we work so hard.”

I am not trying to put down the hard work our administration puts into our school, but I would like to make it aware that some sports on campus are upset and I want them to be heard. There are many things that can be changed to have all sports feel that they are appreciated for their success and I’ve seen that our school is seeing that. We are a long ways from perfect, but we are striving to get there.