Earning a Varsity Letter
Wearing a varsity letter is a significant honor for an athlete. A student sporting the Westwood "W" knows that his hard work, determination, dedication, and talents have earned him the opportunity to represent Westwood High School, the staff and faculty, the student body, the parent's organization, the coaches, and the Westwood community in interscholastic competition. At first glance, the rules for obtaining a letter are simple. A player must:
- participate in 50% of the quarters of our league games, or
- be recognized by the coaching staff under "special circumstances" (e.g., a player who does not meet the participation criteria but who the coaches feel has had a significant impact on the squad and therefore warrants recognition).
These seemingly modest requirements are, in practice, very difficult to achieve. Our team goal is to compete for the division championship. To accomplish this aim, we play our best players. On our team, young men earn their playing time. Your head coach expects each player to work hard, to give his best effort every time he walks on a lacrosse field, to set the example for our younger players, and to represent his school with pride and decorum. A player's individual efforts, integrity, commitment, and skills determine how much and how often he plays.
We only consider league games for participation credit. This represents an important distinction. To receive a letter, a player must be a significant contributor to our success. A Westwood letter winner has represented our squad in our most important games. those whose outcome determine our standing in our division and in the Texas High School Lacrosse League. Some sports at Westwood employ a "4-year" senior rule - a 4-year player automatically receives a varsity letter. We have not implemented this provision for lacrosse - we do not award letters to players who do not earn them. Luckily, we have never had a problem with a 4-year senior not playing, since if they stick with our program, they are typically skilled enough to be contributors on the field. However, since we do not "cut", it is conceivable that a player could be on our team without actively participating. We evaluate these players under criteria "2".
In some cases, a young man who would not otherwise qualify for a varsity letter clearly deserves recognition for his service to the team: for exceptional sportsmanship, dedication, teamwork, leadership. Sometimes those who make a team "work" are not our best game players. In addition, it is possible to have a player miss a significant part of the season and still be a key team asset deserving of a letter. The coaching staff reserves the right to award letters on a "special case" basis in these situations.
While we focus on playing time when we award letters, Westwood lacrosse is about more than playing well and winning games. Sports teach about value: respect, school pride, team spirit, sportsmanship, self-esteem, desire, character, dignity, dedication, and success. Young men who wear the lacrosse "W" clearly exemplify these traits.
