Too Few Players Leads to 3 Straight Westlake JV Football Cancellations

WESTLAKE, OH - The Westlake junior varsity (JV) football team has cancelled its last three games, citing a lack of players.

In a statement, the school's athletic director Tony Cipollone said that JV team is simply understaffed, noting that from 5th to 12th grade, the sophomore and junior classes are the thinnest in terms of football players. A number of sophomore and juniors also pull double-duty and play with the varsity team on Fridays and OHSAA limits how much an individual player can be used in a week.

"It is the view of the coaching staff in conjunction with the athletic and school administration that in the safety of our student-athletes those cancellations were justified," Cipollone says.

Cipollone adds that it is not the intent of the school to cancel the entire JV season, and he anticipates the team taking the field this week.

"While this is a tough decision that nobody wants to make, we always make the decision considering the safety of our players first," he says.

Image via Westlake Schools