As many fall sports come to an end, so do many seniors’ high school athletic experiences. After an interesting four years at South, a group of seniors from different sports were asked about their fall athletics. The questions included things like, “What was your favorite year of the sport?”, and “Have there been any major changes between freshman and senior year?”, with many answers to the latter question being about Covid. Many of the questions had similar answers, showing that even though there were different sports, there were shared experiences throughout.
One of the most impactful questions asked was, “What has been your favorite part of the sport?”, because it represents what stuck with these athletes throughout their four years. Almost all of the answers happened to be about the team aspect of sports, displaying the fact that the team truly has been the most important part of athletics.
Swimmer Zosia Szot responded, “Getting to know the team and growing with the team as the years went by…It’s almost a little family.”
Tennis player Maya Page had a similar answer, saying, “Becoming close with so many of my teammates and making new friends while playing.”
Football player Dominic D’Ambra stated that his favorite part of playing has been, “Being able to play on a team that treats everyone like family.”
Another question given was “What was your favorite year of the sport?”, for athletes to look back on their time at South. There was a wide variety of responses, ranging throughout all four years.
Both dancer Keira Salt and volleyball player Helen Maurer answered their senior year.
Golfer Bailey Cloutier said both junior and senior year, “because of the people that surrounded me, and because of how much I had improved.”
The final big question was about changes from freshman to senior year of the sport. This was for athletes to not only look back on all four years, but think individually about each year.
Soccer player Noah Ball and cheerleader Amanda Keil had similar answers of the fact that they had different coaches each year they participated.
Kylie Denardo and Ethan Woods, both cross country runners, had impactful answers.
“The biggest change that occurred between these years for me is my mindset within the sport…this new mindset of mine has truly helped to ease any stressors I may have before races”, Denardo stated.
Woods’ changes were more team-wise. “Freshman year, we had about 15 people on the roster…Now we have roughly 25 which not only adds more depth to the team but makes practices and meets more exciting”, Woods said.
As a final question for athletes to reflect on their athletic career, they were asked if they would continue the sport after high school. Forty percent responded with a definite yes, while the other sixty percent were undecided.
Let’s wish these seniors luck as their seasons come to an end, and thank them for being so impactful to these programs!