Reality Check: The Athletic Council

Opinion by Eric Su, Grade 10 Have you ever felt neglected by someone or something you care about? That's exactly how many student athletes in our school feel when it comes to the Athletic Council’s media coverage for sports. Some teams seem to get more attention and praise than others while others are barely ever acknowledged for their existence. The Athletic Council, whose role is to make sure every team is represented fairly, often falls short, leaving many athletes frustrated and questioning whether anyone really notices their efforts at all. Do they really care about how the athletes feel?

Behind the scenes, the Athletic Council’s social media management is often disorganized and biased. Certain sports/teams dominate the feed while others are rarely ever seen. This inconsistency doesn't just affect how the school sees each sport, it impacts the athletes motivation and sense of value as well.

Recently, the Athletic Council posted team rosters on social media, highlighting volleyball, soccer, swimming and tennis. While some teams received well-organized posts with multiple slides and clearly labeled photos, the boy’s soccer team looked rushed and incomplete. On the post, only 5 players were shown with pictures which were the junior class of 2027, there was no labeling of any kind and the entire roster’s name were squeezed into ONLY 1 slide. On top of that, one player was completely left out and wasn’t included in the roster name as well.

According to the player whose name was left out of the post, he said “I was pissed. It just shows how careless and disorganized the Athletic Council is. How do you post something representing the team and still manage to leave people out. It’s embarrassing and it really shows they don’t take their responsibilities seriously”. I mean can you blame him for being pissed? Imagine working so hard to make the varsity team, and when the roster comes out you realize your name isn’t even on it. This wasn’t just a small mistake, it showed the lack of effort and attention compared to how other teams were presented.

Other sports had well organized, polished posts that showcased every single athlete, while the soccer team’s post felt like an afterthought. Small errors like this might seem minor, but they reflect a bigger issue: the Athletic Council’s inconsistency and favoritism when it comes to recognizing different sports. If the goal is to represent all athletes fairly, then every team deserves the same level of care and respect in how they are showcased, as we dig deeper, you will start to see the many more problems and issues that lie inside the Athletic Council.

Let’s start by looking at the quality and consistency of the posts the Athletic Council produces. Back in the 2023–24 season, roster posts were made for the varsity soccer, volleyball, basketball, and badminton teams. Each player had their own slide, clearly labeled with their name, position, and number. It was organized, engaging, and exactly the kind of recognition student-athletes deserved. But that was two years ago. In the 2024–25 season, not a single roster post was made—zero effort. Now, in the ongoing 2025–26 season, things haven’t improved much. Out of seven active teams this season, boys’ volleyball, girls’ varsity and JV volleyball, varsity soccer, swimming, tennis, and cross country.

Only three roster posts have been uploaded: girls’ volleyball, swimming, and tennis. All were posted around the same time, but noticeably missing were the boys’ volleyball, JV volleyball, soccer, and cross country rosters. The soccer roster was briefly posted, but due to multiple mistakes and poor quality, it was taken down to be “fixed.” It’s now been nearly three weeks, and it still hasn’t been reposted. As for the others, the JV girls’ volleyball roster was skipped entirely, continuing the council’s long pattern of ignoring JV teams. While varsity teams often get more recognition, JV athletes deserve acknowledgment too. The cross country team has never received a roster post either, and the reason behind the missing boys’ volleyball post remains unclear, though it likely reflects the same lack of effort and organization that has become all too familiar.

The Athletic Council’s growing laziness is another problem. Take the varsity soccer team for example, just a few weeks ago they defeated MAK 5-0 in a dominant performance, the game happened on Friday, 9/26 and the results of the game weren’t posted until next Monday, 9/29 which was 3 DAYS after the game. The exact same thing happened with the girls jv volleyball team, who defeated ICA in a solid 2-0 victory but also didn’t receive recognition for it until 3 days after.

The exact same sequence happened for another one of the boy's varsity soccer games as well as the girls JV volleyball game. What's even more disappointing was that there was no post about the varsity swim team’s recent tissa tournament where the boys managed to get 1st place and the girls who got 3rd place. Their accomplishment, which should have been celebrated, wasn’t acknowledged at all in the Athletic Council’s instagram page.

On top of everything, recently the varsity tennis team attended the TCIS invitational and the boys doubles team managed to achieve 2nd place, with such an impressive achievement the Athletic Council still hasn’t posted anything about this achievement. Clearly, these delays and oversights don’t just show carelessness, they send a message that they don’t want to put in the effort and celebrate our school’s athletes equally.

Beyond consistency and laziness, there’s an even bigger problem with the Athletic Council- bias. A look on last year’s posts on the Athletic Council’s instagram page reveals just how uneven the coverage of each team is. (Stats shown below)

Looking at this data, basketball had 18 posts, volleyball followed with 15 and soccer came with 11. But after that, the number drops drastically. Badminton had 2 posts while cross country and swimming each had just 1 post, and tennis on the other hand had 0. This staggering difference shows it’s clear that certain sports receive the spotlight while the rest are completely overlooked. After seeing this, you may think that the school values soccer, basketball and volleyball the most, right? Well you're wrong. Turns out, there is bias that lies between these “top 3” sports when it comes to the Athletic Council.

Last year during the athletic banquet, where all athletes were invited to celebrate the year's hard work, there was a highlight video made for all the sports teams. Surprisingly, out of the 50~ clips used, there were around 20 volleyball and basketball clips. On the other hand, soccer had just 3. Even more surprisingly, they gave the teams a google drive folder to upload their clips before they made the video and there were 26 clips submitted from the varsity soccer team and yet only 3 were used? This issue was talked about and the Athletic Council apparently blamed it on the “quality”, though those videos were fine and you could still get the idea from watching it. It's clear that they value volleyball and basketball the most in our school, what was supposed to be an exciting and fun highlight video for the athletes to watch turned out to just be volleyball and basketball clips. In what world is this fair?

Lastly, one of the biggest issues with the Athletic Council is the complete lack of attention given to JV teams. Not once has there been a single roster post for any JV team, and game result posts for JV matches are extremely rare. It’s almost as if the council forgets that these athletes represent our school too. While it’s understandable that varsity teams often receive more recognition, completely ignoring JV teams sends the wrong message. Many JV athletes train just as hard and play with the same level of dedication as varsity players. They deserve to feel like their effort matters and that their contributions are valued. Recognizing JV teams isn’t just about fairness, it’s about building school spirit and encouraging all athletes to keep improving.

At the end of the day, the Athletic Council was created to bring our school’s athletes together and make everyone feel seen and valued. Yet, their actions have done the complete opposite for most athletes, leaving many feeling ignored, frustrated, and unappreciated. Whether it’s missing posts, late updates or clear favoritism toward certain teams, these patterns can’t just be ignored anymore. Every athlete, regardless of sport or level, deserves to be recognized for their hard work and dedication. It’s time for the Athletic Council to take responsibility and remember what their true purpose is- to represent all athletes equally, not just a select few. Until that happens, the question remains: are they really for the athletes, or just for themselves?