Despite the relatively small size of WHS, the school offers a wide range of athletic programs each season. This can mean that teams have few “back-up” players, so when a number of varsity seniors graduate, the impact can be significant..

   “Next year the Weston boys baseball team is graduating so many seniors, we might not even be able to field a team,” said junior Brode Kohler. “We are graduating seven out of 15 players on our team, and we do not have a JV.”

   Having a strong senior class in numbers and ability can contribute to successful seasons; however, after impactful classes graduate, a team can be in a really tough situation.

   “It’s possible that we may need to combine teams with another town next year, but no matter what after this graduating class our team is going to change a lot,” said Kohler

   Changes in the skill level and leadership are common occurrences in these situations as teams will need to find different people to play certain positions and take on the role of captain. Ehile younger players may help fill the roster, there is no guarantee how many will try out.

   “About 30% of the boys lacrosse team [is graduating], which isn’t too much, but next year the team is going to be smaller, assuming we don’t have that many freshmen or new players,” said sophomore Jackson Bennett.

   While these shifts come with some negatives and can definitely make an impact, underclassmen who may have had to wait their turn to advance in a team can actually benefit from the openings created.

   “There are a lot of rising players who have been playing for a while, especially juniors, and I think they can contribute in playing roles and help our team stay successful,” said Bennett.

   On the field, filling the various positions is not all that is needed to create a cohesive team; there also needs to be good leadership in order to create a positive team environment.

  “At the beginning [of next year’s season], there could be a lack of leadership, but I think the juniors will also fill the gap there and adjust and kind of lead everyone quickly,” said Bennett.

   The position of previous senior players will need to be filled to the same caliber as they were before in order to maintain a team’s success; this can sometimes work but other times not. Returning players also need to continue to grow in the offseason and come back better than they were before.

   “After a large and skilled senior class leaves, like this year, it can put our team in kind of a sticky situation,” said track and field coach Danielle Mitchell. “Often it can be harder to field events and score points; however, we can still work with what we have and it gives returning underclassmen an opportunity to step up.”

   While some teams have fewer seniors and will be less impacted, returning players will still play a big role in a team’s success.

   “I think for soccer and hockey, we are not graduating too many seniors and have strong underclassmen, so next year there will not be that much rebuilding to do.” said junior Kate Lamb, a member of both teams. “However, juniors will still need to step up and be bigger role models on the team.”    

   Teams that are not graduating many seniors can often build on and expand past success because the team has already had a year already playing together, which can be a huge advantage.

   “The girls basketball team does not have a very large senior class and we already had some junior captains,” said freshman Talia Persekian. “I think next year will be a great opportunity to keep improving as a team, especially since we already have good junior leadership and some good freshmen coming in.”

   Adding good freshmen players and moving up members from JV teams can also greatly contribute to if a team will succeed or not in future years.

   “I think we have a lot of good people on JV soccer who play club and are continuing to get better. They will help fill in spots and contribute to our team next year,” said sophomore Neeve Callanan.

   The overall emphasis for most of these teams as they bid farewell to this year’s senior players is to look to their rising senior classmates to step up.

  “I think it’s very important that the new senior class sets the standards high from the beginning so we ensure our team’s work ethic does not leave with the senior class,” said junior Kate Lamb.