Philosophy
The philosophy of the athletic program at Trinity Valley School is to enhance the students’ cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being through selected athletic activities consistent with the TVS mission statement. The athletic program provides the students with opportunities to compete against other schools, to be challenged as individuals, and to learn to work with others to achieve goals as a team.
Varsity:
Form the most competitive teams through a system of “trying-out” determined by each head coach. The best athlete, at the coach’s discretion, plays as much as necessary to win the game. Wins are important in varsity athletics, but do not determine the success of a season. The team unity, strong work ethic, and sense of pride that develop over the course of the season are all factors in determining success at the varsity level.
Junior Varsity & Freshmen:
Prepare athletes, through an appropriate level of competition, for participation in the varsity program. Allow playing time in practice and games over the course of the season to foster maturity in athletes. Junior Varsity student athletes who are on the active roster will have playing time appropriate to skill level. Emphasize the development of fundamental skills, game strategies, and team unity. Recognize that success is not measured in terms of wins and losses, but on personal growth and skill development.
Middle School:
Emphasize participation, teach fundamental skills, and introduce game strategies. Allow playing time in practice and every game, at the discretion of the coach. Introduce and develop fundamental skills and game strategies while teaching unity, a strong work ethic, and pride. TVS believes that grouping students by ability levels will help each child further develop his/her talent and skills by being constantly challenged in all practice and game settings. “A” teams are comprised of students with the greatest perceived and displayed skill level as determined by our coaching staff. These teams are matched up with our competitor schools’ best teams. “B” teams are comprised of the players whose skills are good and can develop with proper coaching and playing with students of similar ability. These players may get minimal field time by playing with higher-skilled athletes. These B teams are matched up with our competitor schools’ second-best teams. Development teams are comprised of students with little to no previous playing experience who could potentially blossom given a concentrated, skill-development experience. These teams will typically only play a few games at the end of the season against similarly skilled opponents.
Note: All students who sign up for athletics are placed on a team roster unless issues of safety, health, supervision, space, or facilities become prohibitive. In that event, the athletic administration may decide to limit roster sizes and/or number of teams.