Image from author.
The first semester of high school is coming to an end, and the weather is starting to get colder as students fret over their upcoming finals. However, that’s not the only thing that has begun to change. As the fall season of sports comes to an end, the winter season begins. Starting November 4th, Basketball, Soccer, Wrestling and Cheerleading were officially in season! After submitting their paperwork, athletes from all over campus began preparing for tryouts.
Even though the sports of this season are wildly different, most people share similar experiences with tryouts. Freshman Shanauk Kalra tried out for the Freshman Basketball Team but unfortunately didn’t get in, with basketball being an extremely popular and competitive sport at Washington High School. To combat this, WHS has Freshman Basketball, JV Basketball, and Varsity Basketball. Unfortunately, having three teams doesn’t guarantee students will make it onto a team, with Kalra recalling feeling “a little bit scared when I saw the competition level. Everyone had become so much better. They were faster, some were a bit stronger, and tougher. Everyone was able to outperform me in some way.”
The Girl’s Soccer team faces a similar issue, with Freshman Aarushi Boggarappu struggling to succeed during tryouts. While she was rejected, Boggarappu will make sure to try harder next year. She thought the main reason she didn’t get in was because of how competitive it was this year. Normally, Soccer isn’t a competitive sport—especially for the girl’s team—but due to some mishaps, there was only a girl’s varsity team open this year. Around 30 to 40 players were competing for spots on the team. Due to this, less experienced players weren’t able to make the team and were cut.
While both students didn’t make it onto a team, they don’t plan on letting their failures define them. The opponents that both Kalra and Boggarappu were against were very skilled. “The guys who I saw make the first cut improved their games from last year,” Kalra noticed. “They’ve become a lot more confident and more competitive. They really just polished their games overall.” Boggarappu went on to say how she will “practice more on my dribbling and try to aim and score properly.” Kalra also noted that the coach was looking for offensive skills while Kalra was mainly a defensive player. With this in mind, both students are ready to improve for next year’s tryouts.
However, not all tryouts are discouraging; for instance, Freshman Shantilata Sahu successfully made it onto the Girls’ JV Basketball team. Sahu felt that she made the team “because I’d been coming to the open gyms before and I’d been communicating with the coaches.” She also mentioned that the coaches were looking for good teamwork and communication skills. Now that she’s made the team, Sahu is “really happy and relieved about getting to play for my high school team.” However, as a student athlete, Sahu needs to manage her time wisely to excel in both basketball and school. To do this Sahu, “uses different kinds of study tactics and tries to study for a set amount of time.” Beyond her current achievements, Sahu hopes to try out for the Varsity team next year. To prepare, she plans to work on her long-range shots, improve her driving skills when there are open lanes, and enhance her teamwork abilities.Trying out for sports is a journey. The experience will vary for each person, but some failures are unavoidable. It’s important to keep in mind that you can learn from failure and improve from success. So, regardless of whether you made the team or not, the experiences you gained will carry you forward. Thus, as we head off into a new season let’s support and encourage our athletes!
Nikita Murugesan is a freshman at Washington High School. She was born and raised here, in Fremont.This is her first year at the Hatchet and she is interested in covering topics like important things happening in our school, community and world. Nikita enjoys reading books and mangas.When she is not reading, she enjoys hanging out with her friends, playing badminton, teaching indian martial art’s, skateboarding and rollerblading. For this year she plans to get better at playing the trombone. She is unsure of which major she wants to pursue but she wants to attend a UC college.