The fall sports have all finished up their respective seasons, and now coaches and athletes look forward to the upcoming winter months and more athletics. Yes, preseason has begun.
Last season, the girls Winter Track team captured both the SCC title and the State title. The Basketball teams also did very well, as did Hockey, Cheering, and the Dance team. Some teams have a lot to live up to. But every year begins differently and uncertainly with senior athletes having graduated and new freshman coming in to round out the teams. In girls and boys winter track, several star athletes and top scorers have moved on including Dana Dourdiville, now studying at Brown, Ian Knapton, and Christian Lavoie on the boys’ side, and Therese Morse, Emily Roseman, Hannah O’Day, and Alexandra Bare on the girls’ side. For basketball boys and girls, Jordan Babilonia, Shanice DaSilva, and Kelsey Johnson have all moved on, and for hockey, DJ Silva.
Preseason is the time for younger athletes to realize their potential and compensate for the loss of star senior players. It’s the time to build a close team community, and it’s the time to prepare to face other teams and win. Preseason is when athletes and coaches get together not knowing exactly what to expect, and try to make something great out of what they are given. The uncertainty associated with the start of a new season is always nerve-wracking, but when a group of athletes become a true team, (not just a conglomeration of players) things start to fall together.
It’s difficult to tell yet which freshman or newcomers will become the next stars of the team, but after the first game or meet this will become very clear. Athletes will rise to the challenge of the new season without the old players they could once depend upon, and with that hopefully some will realize something about themselves that they never knew. With so much talent bursting at the seams, this is bound to be an intriguing season for ORR sports.
By India Krawczyk