This year, Jackson-Reed’s football program enters the season with a clear sense of where things have gone wrong, and what to do about it.
Following a string of losing seasons, the team has found itself in danger of demotion to a lower league, a first for the school.
The team faces structural challenges, a policy limiting student attendance, and rebuilding culture. It’s clear that there are obstacles, but there’s also a plan.
What’s gone wrong? First, participation is low. Coaches and the athletic department highlight the lack of players coming in with prior experience: when facing a knowledge gap with an understanding of the game, early skill development can be slower than the competition.
With middle school football participation already low, it’s difficult to create a stable feeder program. New freshmen face a learning curve to conquer before playing at a competitive level. Athletic Director Patrice Arrington said that “many new players come in not really knowing the game and coaches have to do a heck of a job teaching them the game of football.”
Integrating the freshman is slow, and in combination with the loss of leadership from the previous class of seniors, the season has gotten off to a “pretty disappointing” start so far. That being said, players like senior Kiyan Weigert, have insisted that “through the excellent staff around our players, the future is bright.”
Second, resources are tight. Football requires lots of protective equipment that isn’t cheap, and the team has aged gear, especially helmets. The school has to balance its resources across many sports, and currently, the football program is struggling with the cost of the expensive helmets it needs.
Arrington said that she doesn’t want to “put all of the money into football, as many other schools do,” instead, she aims to balance funding between all sports.
Lastly, in the midst of senior turnover and low participation, a new district policy has further complicated home games and student participation. Implemented with little notice, minors are ] required to be accompanied by an adult if they want to attend the game.
This fall is crucial for the team’s future. For the first time in JR football history, the team is facing demotion to the DCIAA Stripes League instead of the DCIAA Stars League, which they currently play in. According to the DCIAA rulebook, if a current Stars team finishes last in its division for three years in a row, it will be demoted (JR has finished last for two years in a row now).
Alternatively, if a Stripes team wins the league three years in a row, it will be promoted to the Stars League and the team in the Stripes league with the lowest win percentage across the past three years will be demoted (which is currently JR).
This season, if JR finishes last in the division or Bell Multicultural High School, which has won the Stripes league two years in a row, wins again, JR will face demotion.
Despite these setbacks, the team has plans to improve. According to Arrington, the football team is “working with feeder schools, especially Deal, to get kids introduced to the game earlier” and there are JR camps and clinics scheduled over the coming months.
Staff changes, a shift in focus to intensive basics, and a team culture that rewards effort and attendance aim to translate work in practice to gameday results, as well as a putting focus on respect; Dunbar was forced to forfeit a game to the Tigers this year as a result of the school’s brawl with Coolidge.
The plan moving forward lies in rebuilding the feeder pipeline, developing fundamentals and shoring up equipment, but there is one more factor crucial to the team’s success: you!
The DCPS policy has only hurt the atmosphere of home games, and every bit of energy from the student body makes a difference. Go get your green and black, get your dad, get everyone who’ll go and come out to the games, and show the league what Tiger Pride really looks like. •