No Varsity Football for East Chapel Hill High in 2017

When fall rolls around, Friday nights are typically reserved for high school football. But this fall, there’s one local high school where that won’t be the case.

East Chapel Hill High School Football coach Ryan Johnson knows something must change.

“We decided not to do the same thing over and over again,” Johnson said, “that’s been done the past three years.”

In those last three years, the Wildcat varsity football team has won just two games.

It’s also been a struggle to find enough players.

East Chapel Hill forfeited three of its final four games in 2014 because of a lack of healthy players. Things aren’t much better in 2017.

As a result, the school announced this week that it will not field a varsity football team in the fall.

Johnson said safety is the primary concern.

“We just wanted to show the community that we’re doing everything we can on our end to make sure the safety of our athletes are taken care of.”

Part of safety is simply having the right equipment. That’s why Johnson started an online fundraising campaign for things like reconditioned shoulder pads and helmets.

But Johnson also cited another safety concern—youth.

“You’re not giving the kids a chance to develop and play against athletes their age level, their skill level,” Johnson said. “For a young, rising ninth grader, for their confidence, it just kills it.”

Most of the East Chapel Hill team in 2017 would be made up of freshmen and sophomores.

So the Wildcats will field a junior varsity team this fall instead.

Johnson said he believes this will increase the number of middle school football players who want to continue at the high school level.

“A lot of kids aren’t playing because, ‘I’m an eighth grader or ninth grader, I don’t want to go out there and play against Hillside, who has 11th and 12th graders who have been playing forever.’”

If Johnson is right, East Chapel Hill should have plenty of numbers for a varsity team soon.

But the Wildcats aren’t the only local team that’s struggled to find enough players.

Carrboro High – the only team East Chapel Hill has defeated in the last three seasons – forfeited two games in 2015 due to a lack of available players.

Johnson said he thinks some people are shying away from sports like football. But he hopes that the junior varsity team will make sure young players don’t shy away out of fear.

“If a kid has a passion for the game,” Johnson said, “I think they should have the opportunity to play and develop like everybody else.”