While many high school varsity teams are made up of juniors and seniors, at WHS a select group of freshmen have worked hard enough to fill spots on varsity rosters. For freshmen, being on the most competitively rigorous teams the school has to offer has its own unique benefits and challenges.
“Competing in varsity sports as a freshman can be nerve-racking and a little scary,” soccer freshman Sam Darling said. “But the team’s atmosphere is great and everyone is active and hyped.”
Freshmen playing in contact sports such as soccer find the amount of physicality to be higher in comparison to their prior years in the sport.
“I was somewhat surprised to be put on varsity, mainly because I didn’t play too well during tryouts,” Darling said. “There are also a lot of kids that are bigger and stronger than me on the team, which means it mattered a lot more to show my skills during tryouts.”
One of the reasons freshmen have this opportunity at WHS is the school’s size. Larger schools, such as Concord-Carlisle, see far fewer freshmen making their rosters.
“The bigger the school, the less opportunity there is for freshmen to make varsity rosters,” athletic director Mike McGrath said. “At Weston, freshmen making varsity is fairly common. Because our school is smaller than most, there are many opportunities for freshmen to make the roster.”
Lauren Morsilli, who played on the WHS field hockey junior varsity team in eighth grade, found her freshman year on varsity to be more challenging.
“While the varsity and JV programs are very similar, I believe the biggest difference is in the competition,” Morsilli said. “I have noticed from playing on varsity so far that there is a recognizable difference in skill level.”
In addition to the increase in skill level, there is much more commitment and responsibility required in order to juggle the demands of the sport along with everything else required to be successful in high school.
“The biggest challenge that comes along with playing varsity field hockey is making sure you are still getting enough sleep and having enough time to do school work,” Morsilli said.
In order to prevent anxiety, varsity upperclassmen try to balance the stress and pressure that comes with being on the field, particularly for freshmen, with various efforts to create a positive team environment.
“The upperclassmen are always working hard to plan fun team activities like going to a team lunch, setting up fun psych ups, offering to give underclassmen rides to and from practices and guiding underclassmen with any questions they may have about not only field hockey but school as well,” Morsilli said.
In comparison to most other sports, cross country only announces the competitors that have made varsity at the end of the year. Still, certain freshmen are chosen to compete in varsity races. For individualistic sports such as cross country, competing may at first seem difficult.
“Though it may take some time to get used to the increased difficulty of varsity sports, I think freshmen do a good job in pushing themselves,” senior cross country captain James Osborn said. “We have a lot of future potential on the team.”
Freshman may find the varsity team more challenging, but for some, the competitive atmosphere still provides excitement.
“I find competing in varsity volleyball as a freshman to be a completely exhilarating experience,” freshman Ainsley Fachner said. “The atmosphere of the team is very welcoming, and the atmosphere of the games is just so exciting. A lot of the teams we play are amazing, so the intensity of them just makes it that much better.”
On and off the field, freshmen on varsity sports look to upperclassmen to provide leadership.
“Upperclassmen take roles as captains and role models on the team,” Fachner said. “If someone makes a mistake, they’ll let that person know what they did wrong and how to fix it. They’re very supportive of the underclassmen on the team; they’re always pushing us to be better.”
Freshmen who make varsity sports also gain respect from members of the Weston community.
“Each year, there’s always a handful of freshmen that make an impact on the team,” McGrath said. “I see and admire that, as do many coaches and athletes.”
