2

I'm wondering whether I should capitalize the word varsity in a sentence like this one:

Dalton has continued playing football since then and now plays on the Newnan High School Varsity team.

In this situation, is capitalizing Varsity necessary, optional, or incorrect?

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    My take is that, unless the team is actually named "Varsity Team" or some such, "varsity" should not be capitalized.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Sep 5, 2015 at 1:46

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

Published instances of phrases of the type "X High School varsity football team" in Google Books search results show considerable variation in initial capitalization. The vast majority capitalize "X High School" (presumably because the authors recognize that they are dealing with a proper name). As deadrat's answer implies, most then split between all-lowercase for "varsity football team" or all-initial-caps for "Varsity Football Team." But one Google Books result opts for "Window Rock High School Varsity Football team" and another for "Vallejo High School's Varsity football team."

I wouldn't capitalize "varsity football team." The team is certainly an offshoot of an entity that has a proper name—say, Francis X. Bushman High School. But if we accept "Francis X. Bushman High School Varsity Football Team," why not "Francis X. Bushman High School Left Field Fence" or "Francis X. Bushman High School Volleyball Net" or "Francis X. Bushman High School Recycling Bins Outside the Lunch Room"? Those are identifiable entities associated with the school. too.

Incidentally, the word varsity began (around 1646) as an abbreviation/altered spelling of university, and some examples from the early 1900s retain the apostrophe before the v: 'varsity.

Ultimately, capitalizing Varsity and/or Football and/or Team is a style issue that every person who is free to act on personal preference gets to decide without reference to what others do. But at the level of proper nouns, I see very little reason to treat "varsity football team" as anything more than a string of common nouns, whether or not it follows in the shadow of a school's proper name.

Improve this answer
0

Generally speaking, the major words in a formal title are capitalized, but there appears to be no consensus in this case. The Ngram viewer finds this example from a book containing a ruling in 1994 from the Maryland Special Court of Appeals:

Sixteen-year-old Tawana tried out for the Francis Scott Key varsity football team in the summer of 1989, ....

But this from the Congressional Record in 2004:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the St. Francis High School Varsity Football Team, who recently won the 2003-04 Michigan Division 7 state title.

Both of these see like formal enough venues to provide guidance, yet they take different typographical stands.

Improve this answer
2
  • Yes: one really needs to look at in-house publications / press releases to see their preferred style (assuming they're consistent). But not a topic for ELU: 'preferred style POB'.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Sep 4, 2015 at 18:49
  • There you have it! The courts trying to "legislate" again! (Usages in newspapers or magazines would be far more representative of standard practices.)
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Sep 4, 2015 at 20:01

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .