The Wakefield Girls’ Volleyball team has a lot of new and returning talent this year. Starting a high school sport as a freshman can be demanding, especially at the beginning of the year. Having practice everyday, games every week, plus homework and studying can put a lot of pressure and stress on players. I asked freshmen on the Freshman and JV team what they do to be the best athlete and student they can be.
High school sports are very different from activities outside of school, which are only a few times a week, unlike high school which is everyday. It can be hard to transition to this busy schedule as a freshman. What’s it like playing a high school sport as a freshman? Mya Grupenhoff (’29) a libero on JV said, “It’s pretty fun because I’ve made a lot of friends, especially with upperclassmen.” Similarly to Mya, Maggie Daigle (’29), a middle on the freshman team said, “It’s very fun because I have met a lot more people and I have grown in my sport.” Meeting new people is a good way to find the rhythm of a new school and lifestyle, upperclassmen friends can help out a lot in and outside of sports.
It can be very hard to find a way to balance sports and school work everyday, but in the end, being a student comes before being an athlete. So how do student-athletes balance school work and with their sports? Maggie said, “I use my time before and after practices to study for any tests I have or finish my homework.” Mya said, “I try to do my work right when I get home from practice and games. Sometimes I wake up very early to do some homework or study for tests.” A skill that student-athletes have to learn in order to be successful is time management. Time is limited everyday and they need to stay on top of school work or else it can easily pile up.
In the long run playing a high school sport can teach kids some very important life skills and lessons at a young age; time management and social skills can help these student athletes so much in the future.
Go to wakefieldhswarriors.com/sports/girls-volleyball/schedule so you can be there to cheer on the Freshman, JV, and Varsity teams at their next big game.