It’s the beginning of a new school year, the leaves are falling, freshmen are hopping around, and sports teams now have to deal with the absence of the alumni that played such a vital role the previous year. It’s a question that plagues every sports team each and every year, with an impact felt on everyone.
The performance of a sports team is often all people will look at when comparing the impact the alumni had on the school and their juniors, but that’s not all there is to this story.
One of the impacts many fail to consider are friendships the seniors had with their juniors and how they looked up to them and how graduating can affect the teamwork and friendship aspect of a team. This was how city championship girls doubles bronze medalist and manager of the boys badminton team, Sophia Shi, felt when asked how the absence of the alumni affected her and the team. Shi states “ Last year, a lot of the seniors were the ones who taught me, they were the ones who trained me, and were there for me and the team, and them leaving, it just felt different. I feel like I couldn’t rely on them as much, but sometimes they do come back, which I feel happy about, and then we can get to play together, train, practice.” Shi talks about how the team feels different without the support of the alumni that she used to look up to and that change made her feel as if she couldn’t rely on her upperclassmen as much as she used to, which is a sentiment that many seniors feel when first getting ready for the new season. However…
…That doesn’t mean the team is doing bad. It’s time to talk about the elephant in the zoo, or elephant in the snafu or whatever the saying is, performance. When Sophia was asked how the absence of the alumni affected the performance of the team, she stated “I improved. We actually got better because we’re self training and we really work together as a team. We improved a lot from last year and I’m happy to see that.” This might be a surprise to many since when many people consider a sports team, they’ll only look at seniors, but that’s quite literally only 1/4 the team, only 1/4 the story. The freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are just as important and vital to the team as the seniors and it’s their ability to work together and help each other as a team that truly allows them to be great and overcome these struggles.
These sentiments were continued by Michelle Perez, a midfielder for the girl’s soccer team, who states ” I feel like since last year, we recruited a lot of girls and we’ve been able to actually work over the summer and fall, to give us a little more time to work on our tactical stuff and prioritize our technical work, which we really lacked.”
These sentiments were further continued by Calvin Wang, the number one starter for the boys badminton team, who states “I don’t think the absence of the alumni has affected us that much, but I think they provided us more competition within the team, which leads me to believe that I improved over time… I’ll say so far, our team has gotten a little bit worse, but I think there’s some minor changes that can be adjusted to make our team successful,” I believe that Perez, Shi, and Wang’s sentiments all share a common idea of using teamwork and bettering themselves in order to get over their shortcomings from last year and the loss of their senior players. The absence of the alumni is just par for the course, another obstacle that the players will or already have gotten through.
The girls and boys badminton team coach, Mr Gross, put it best when asked how the transition from last year to this year was, Gross bluntly stated “Easy”, He then went on to elaborate how the absence of the alumni affected the teams, saying “I’ve been doing this a long time…When I first started, it was very difficult. I barely had any time to set up, we didn’t win any games for the first 30, but we’ve been very successful since…It’s been a steady turnover, we’ve had some seasons that weren’t as good, but for the most part, we’ve had a very steady team.” For Gross, who’s been a coach for over 10 years, there’s been many obstacles, and it is ultimately up to the team whether they’re able to get over those roadblocks.
The effect the alumni have on a sports team is one that spans farther than just performance and numbers, it’s an impact that deals with friendship, mentorship, and the strive to get better. The absence of the alumni can mean a team getting a bit worse, the loss of a mentor who can’t always be there for you, or just losing a member of your team, but it can also give the players a reason to get better, a reason to train more, and a opportunity for new leaders and players to get the spotlight they deserve. The absence of the alumni is just another roadblock and it is ultimately up to the team to overcome that challenge and become the best version of themselves.
