This fall, our Girls SHS Varsity Soccer team is home to six freshmen. Between games, practice, and pasta parties, these freshmen are having a blast.
Addison Rapp, 9, is one of six freshmen on our SHS Girls Varsity Soccer team. Though she may only be a freshman, she scored the team’s first goal of the season. Rapp is incredibly thankful for her opportunity to play with such a close, connected group of girls, and even more so, she is thrilled that she is finally playing soccer with her older sister, Ellie Rapp, 12.
“I feel like going into this season. I always wanted to play with Ellie, but I didn’t really think that I was going to get to because there were so many other talented players,” says Rapp.
Nohea Harper, 9, is another freshman on the girl’s varsity soccer team. From the second Harper found out she was playing on varsity, she knew she was ready for the challenges it would bring. She realizes that despite being a freshman, it is important to always contribute and to be a leader regardless of her age.
Most of all, Harper loves the social aspect that the team gives her. She is very happy to be on a team with so many nice girls. She has especially enjoyed being able to branch out to other grades and getting to know new people. Harper said, “People give me rides which are really fun.”
When Maura Sweeney, 9, heard the exciting news of making varsity, she knew that she wanted to prove herself. Sweeney knew that being a freshman on varsity would bring mental challenges with balancing the pressures that come with the game. But, she makes sure to always try her best on and off the field.
More than anything, the team dynamic is what makes the game so exciting for Sweeney. She enjoys how everyone on the team is friends with each other and there is no toxicity towards each other—it makes it fun.“Especially at practice because everyone feeds off each other’s energy,” Sweeny said.
Ellie Hamilton, 9, was injured this summer, causing her a lot of stress over making the team. She was worried about how many other good players there were, but she still showed up every day ready to work. On results day, Hamilton was nervous, but when she found out she had made varsity, she said, “It was worth it.”
One of Hamilton’s favorite memories of being on the team so far was team bonding. “I liked it when I smashed a cookie in Rachel’s face,” said Hamilton.
Apart from all of the fun, Hamilton notes that as a younger player, you have to work a lot harder to earn time on the field, which sometimes comes with a lot of pressure. However, she knows that it is important not to get hung up on mistakes and to keep persevering.
Rachel Balent, 9, described the feeling of finding out she was on varsity as surreal and explained that the idea of being a freshman on varsity did not completely register until the first practice.
Although she is young, Balent is not worried about being on a team with older girls, and she says that the team has been very kind and welcoming towards her. She likes that, in contrast to club soccer, everyone on the high school team goes to the same school—this way everyone relates to each other. She thinks that this brings the team closer together.
Balent loves team bonding, but more specifically, she loves getting cookies smashed in her face. “It was funny to get a cookie smashed in my face,” Balent said.
“It felt unreal, and I couldn’t stop smiling,” Estelle Murphey, 9, said after discovering that she made varsity. She could not believe it and was in utter shock. She is very grateful to be part of a team with such amazing girls and cannot wait to see what the season brings.
Murphey has loved getting to know the upperclassmen and is grateful that she is playing with some of her best friends.
However, high school sports come with stressors new to freshmen, Murphey notes how sometimes it is tough to balance her school work on game days because she gets home so late, but she is beginning to learn how to manage her time better.
