As the school year kicks off, MCPS has introduced a new athletic competition.
This year the school’s athletic teams will compete against Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walter Johnson, Walt Whitman and Winston Churchill to name the top athletic program in this area. As long time rivals, this athletic competition, informally named the cup, will heighten the stakes of the varsity matches between the schools. “It just gives that extra little nudge that you know something is riding on it,” varsity baseball coach Jon David Marchand said.
Though these schools aren’t currently in the same division, “these schools have always been county rivals, it’s a cluster, when it first started we were all in the same division together,” Athletic Director Al Lightsey said.
As for the scoring of the cup, each time a school defeats one of the other schools, a point is tallied to the winning team’s school’s score. At the end of the year, the winner is determined by which school has a higher overall score across all varsity sports. “Adding in a school sports-wide incentive will possibly add an additional positive component,” girls’ varsity soccer coach Christopher Thompson said.
Since the score is based on the record of the five competing schools, it raises the question of whether the school is at a disadvantage from being in the 3A division as opposed to the other schools that are in 4A. Considering the school is in a different division, sports teams won’t go up against other schools as often as the 4A schools due to scheduling conflicts. “It actually may work out better for us because we play fewer games, which means that they will be beating each other up more,” Lightsey said.
Even though this cup has been introduced to all varsity teams this year, it originated as a competition solely for the football teams. Similarly to now, when it was first created, the goal of the cup was to create a higher level of competition between the six schools in their football games. Athletic directors from the six schools brought it back for the same reason: school spirit. Introducing an inter-school competition that allies sports teams together for a common goal beyond themselves creates an environment of support. So between communication from all of the athletic directors and MCPS Systemwide Athletic Director Jeff Sullivan, they were able to “bring back something for schools to rally around,” Lightsey said.
As the year comes to a close in May, athletes from the winning school sports teams will come together to name the cup and design it. Since the cup’s goal is to unify the school’s teams, athletic directors feel its fit to have students design the cup. By reintroducing the cup as a competition, it fosters a supportive environment for the school’s athletes. In efforts to win the cup, teams will be there to cheer on one another and bolster school spirit. “I think it will help boost school spirit by giving everyone, even people from different sports, a common goal,” junior Avni Koenig said.
