Owen J. Roberts Middle School students are permitted to participate in the Owen J. Roberts Interscholastic Athletic Program. The program for boys includes football, soccer, cross country, basketball, track, wrestling, and baseball. The girls’ program includes field hockey, soccer, cross country, lacrosse, basketball, track, cheer-leading, and softball. Our interscholastic teams compete against schools from Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and surrounding counties. Participating students must be covered by the student accident insurance or must submit a statement signed by the parents or guardians indicating adequate substitute accident insurance coverage.
Eligibility for participation in extracurricular athletics is determined on a weekly basis and all students must meet the minimum eligibility requirements set by the OJRSD and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (P.I.A.A.). These requirements are as follows:
Any student participating in interscholastic sports must be in attendance at school by 9:45 AM. If a student arrives after that time they are not permitted to participate in their sport after school.
● Athletic eligibility will be cumulative from the beginning of the marking period and will be reported on a weekly basis.
● Any week during a marking period, that a student is failing two or more subjects, he/she will be ineligible to participate in athletics the following week.
● During the first week of a student athlete’s ineligibility, he/she may practice with the team, but may not participate in any interscholastic contests. The student is required to contact the instructors of the classes he/she is failing for remedial work.
● If a student athlete is ineligible a second week during the marking period, he/she may not practice or participate in any interscholastic contests. The student is required to contact the instructors of the classes he/she is failing for remedial work.
● If a student athlete is ineligible for a third week during a marking period, he/she will be removed from the team.
● If a student athlete has two or more failures at the end of the marking period, he/she is ineligible for 15 school days of the next marking period and will not be able to practice or participate in any athletic activity until eligibility requirements are met.
● With two failures at the end of the fourth marking period, the student athlete will not be eligible to participate in athletic activities for the first 15 days at the start of the next school year unless these failures are corrected through summer school attendance.
● PIAA also gives the school principal the authority "to exclude any contestant who, because of bad habits, or improper conduct, would not represent his/her school in a becoming manner."
● It is the responsibility of the coaches to monitor the eligibility of athletes on their teams.
● As with other school activities, a student may be removed from a team by coaches for violation of school rules/guidelines governing that sport, or by the school administration for infractions of the disciplinary code, attendance regulations, or other circumstances if deemed appropriate.
Sportsmanship
Athletics is a vital component of our school program; therefore, it is the duty and responsibility of all participants and spectators to embody good sportsmanship at all athletic events both home and away. All in attendance are expected to promote fair play and respectfulness toward our opponents and visiting fans. Any OJRMS student, participant, or spectator, who demonstrates unsportsmanlike behavior at a sporting event, whether home or away, will be escorted from the event. Eligibility to attend any future sporting events will be at the discretion of the school administration.