Park University has debuted Junior Varsity programs, or developmental teams, for the 2017-2018 school year. The developmental teams allow each program to groom their student-athletes both mentally and physically. Student-athletes who may not be ready for the varsity level have multiple seasons to grow and improve their skills.

Seven of the 14 athletic programs will be in season during the 2017-2018 school year. Soccer and basketball are the two sports where both a men’s and women’s developmental team will be introduced. The other three programs to implement developmental teams are women’s volleyball, softball and baseball.

Each developmental team will play in Park’s own athletic venues and compete in a condensed and slightly altered version of the varsity team’s schedule. The season lengths differ, with the longest fall developmental season being women’s volleyball with 11 scheduled contests and multiple tournaments. Meanwhile, the women’s soccer developmental team has only two officially scheduled games.

Along with National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics opponents, Park’s developmental teams will both travel to and host NCAA and junior college schools as well. The men’s soccer developmental team will play NCAA DII Rockhurst University while the women’s developmental team will compete against junior colleges Maple Woods and Blue River.

The utilization of developmental programs allows Park students to compete athletically when, otherwise, they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so. In the fall sports alone, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball, the developmental programs have increased roster size by an average of 16 players. Increased roster size means student-athletes can achieve the same intensity and amount of practice while simultaneously minimizing over-training injuries.

Student-athletes are not the only beneficiaries of these developmental teams. The seven new teams also create coaching opportunities. This means more coaches are given a chance to learn and hone their coaching skills, and it also gives the varsity team more assistant coaches to help develop student-athletes.

Though the women’s soccer developmental team has yet to begin their season, the women’s volleyball and men’s soccer developmental teams already have a few games under their belt. The Pirates women’s volleyball team has played four matches, going 3-1 with wins over Ottawa University, William Penn University and Graceland University. Meanwhile, men’s soccer lost their opening match to Kansas Christian College 2-0, but rebounded six days later with a 1-0 shutout against MCC-Blue River leaving them at a 1-1 record.