BY CHRISTINA GU ‘24

If you are a student or teacher who checks their email, you might recall the long all-school email chain concerning the Milton Girls’ Varsity Tennis Team’s court assignments for Nobles day. This conflict can be traced to the longstanding inequality among Milton’s sports teams. MAGVT is one of the strongest athletic programs here at Milton, yet its achievements are often overlooked. The team’s Head Coach, Troy Crichlow, states that “we’ve had the most successful team at Milton since I started over the last 12 years and we get the least [publicity].” MAGVT’s impressive statistics deserve more than the minimal recognition they receive.

In the last 12 years, MAGVT has secured three New England Championships, eight ISL titles (six of which were consecutive), and eight league MVP awards, not to mention their countless number of all-ISL players. Last year, the team was only one set away from a ‘clean sweep’ season. Coach Crichlow believes that GVT is “by far the most successful team at the school” at this time. Despite their many accolades and achievements, the team is overshadowed by other sports.

The girls have received insufficient appreciation for their recent ISL co-championship title. Many of Milton’s community members showed up in support of MAGVT’s ISL championship, yet other issues attempted to undermine their final match. Though the girls' team was fighting for the ISL title, Milton them on the South Courts, allowing the boys’ team—who were fighting for fourth place—use of the North Courts. While accounts on social media—Milton’s official Instagram account included—celebrated other sports teams for winning games, MAGVT only received publicity for their ISL championship after requesting a post.

Meanwhile, during everyday practices, the boys' team would take the four upper courts, leaving the girls' team of twelve players to squeeze into the two lower courts. According to a member of the girls’ team, all four wheels of their ball cart fell off, yet the athletic department provided no funding to replace it. Upon requesting a new ball cart, the school dismissed the team on the premise that “there were more carts in the cage” when there were not. Additionally, co-captain Riya Singh comments that “the banner showcasing our wins has been ‘being fixed’ for ages.”

It is no big secret that athletics at Milton are biased against girls’ sports, but it is important that the Milton community acknowledges the hard work of all athletes, regardless of gender or sport. By increasing publicity and balancing funding for underrecognized, underfunded teams, Milton Academy can create a more supportive and healthy athletic culture. We as a student body can help out too, by coming out and supporting the girls’ tennis team! Though half the team will be leaving to pursue successful college careers, we can look forward to MAGVT’s further achievements next season.

MAGVT: The Most Underrated Sports Team at Milton?