The Varsity label encompasses the strategic thinking, teamwork, and competitiveness that make a team, not necessarily the brute strength and physical exertion of sports.
At South, Varsity Debate, Improv, and Chess are varsity non-sport teams that have practices and rehearsals leading up to main events—tournaments, competitions, and shows—where they can show off their talent. Whether it is, standing at a podium, speaking on stage, or sitting at a board, these varsity teams develop skills just the same as athletes, senior Ekansh Mehrotra, Varsity Chess Captain, said. Playing chess has improved his logic and strategy, because it requires quick thinking, Mehrotra said.
“Strategy is not about where to hit a tennis shot or where to move a knight,” Mehrotra said. “It’s about pattern recognition and trying to figure out where my opponent’s weaknesses are.”
Varsity members meet almost everyday, improving their skills, discussing tactics, playing games, and hosting weekly practice tournaments, Mehrotra said. Their dedication has granted the team a yearly state qualification, where they finished sixth last year.
“I was really proud when we got sixth at state,” Mehrotra said. “There’s a definite community there, and we have a lot of fun.”
Varsity Improv, like Varsity Chess, faces unpredictability, Joe Karlovsky, Improv Director and Math Teacher, explained. Improvaganza has teams of students compete across three shows to get the most laughter out of the audience, Karlovsky explained.
“Every basketball game is different, just like every Improv show is different,” Karlovsky said. “We still need to practice and have good habits so those habits show up in a performance.”
To build a team of in-sync performers, Karlovsky holds auditions each fall. Unlike sports, or even a musical, where skills can be trained over and over again until they are muscle memory, Karlovsky searches for an intangible “it” in his cast.
“‘It is not just about whether or not a student is funny,” Karlovsky said. “‘It is about being a good improviser, listener, and scene partner, which means taking what someone else says and rolling with it.”
Contrastingly, the Debate program has a very systematic approach to their team arrangements, Tara Tate, Debate Director and Social Studies Teacher, said. Since Debate is co-curricular, first-year debaters spend their year learning about and competing in two types of debate: Congress, which focuses on public speaking, and Policy, which is research-based, Tate explained. First years compete at a Junior Varsity (JV) level and from their second year on, debaters choose one of the two preserves to specialize in.
“I often put second years in the Varsity division,” Tate said. “At the beginning, it’s rough for most of them. Going into varsity is a big leap.”
Senior Paulina Martinez, Varsity Policy Debate Captain, started debate as a freshman.
“Since my freshman year, debate has helped me grow as a person,” Martinez said. “It taught me that instead of having this preconception of what’s right, that you should look at both sides, both arguments.”
As chess captain, Mehrotra handles the highs and lows of his teammates, even when emotions run high.
“You’ve just got to move on, you’ve got to forget it,” Mehrotra said. “There’s always a next time.”
