Athletes speak on the start of the new season

Richelle Zheng
CHS Class of 2025

(9/2024) The summer has flown by and Catoctin High School was ready to welcome back their students for the 2024-2025 school year on August 21! Meanwhile, tryouts for fall sports began on August 14.

The fall sports season consists of the following womens sports: field hockey, coached by Vic Whitberd and Miriah Stone; girls soccer, coached by Dave Zentz; girls volleyball, coached by Shaun Calhoun; cheerleading, coached by Lauren Dawn and Tabetha Bostic; cross-country, coached by David Lillard; girls flag football, coached by Rebecca Hurley; football, coached by Michael Rich; and golf. The boys fall sports include: boys soccer, coached by Barrett Irones; football, coached by Michael Rich; cross-country, coached by David Lillard; and golf. The unified sport for the fall season is unified tennis, which is coached by Charmane Nesbitt.

The Catoctin girls soccer team struggled to find recruits for this year's season, but once tryouts started they were able to round up just enough girls to form a team.

The field hockey team has been working hard towards their new season. Commendable examples include sophomore Mallory Clark and junior Darby Carson. Clark went into field hockey as a first time player her freshman year. As an incoming freshman, Clark tried out for the sport on a whim and said, "Coming into the sport last year was very scary. I'd never played the sport before, and I was one of four players that had never played before. I found it very fun from the start, even though I was not near the best on the team." This year her goals are to improve her basic skills as well as learning more advanced ones. Moreover, she is excited to get to know the new freshman recruits on the team. Clark has provided some advice for new athletes as she says, "You're not going to be as good as experienced players at first. If you're having fun, don't compare yourself to people that have been playing for years longer than you and don't beat yourself up because you're new." Clark also encourages students to try out for the field hockey team as they welcome athletes of all skill levels!

Similarly, Carson also started playing field hockey without prior experience in the sport This year will be her second year playing the sport as well. Her goals for this season are to, " Get more playing time and improve my ball handling. I want to become a more competitive and stronger player, and a better teammate." What Carson is most looking forward to this season is building new friendships, continuing to learn about the game, and getting in better shape. In addition Carson mentions, "Overall I want to help create an inviting team environment! I'm excited to see our growth as a team, and my own personal growth as well compared to last season." Carson describes the field hockey team as being a close-knit community, " I love the team. We have a lot of new players, and they all seem so sweet. I'm really excited to see them all grow. We also have a nice sized team for a small school like Catoctin which hopefully means more opportunities to win!" Carson has also offered some advice to students who are new to sports, she reassures, "It gets so much easier! At the beginning of my first season I was so scared, and thought I would never improve. Compared to where I was last season, I have made so much improvement, and that goes for everyone. It won't always be this confusing as long as you stick with it! Also, if you aren't in love with the sport, it's always amazing to try new things, and find where you feel most comfortable!"

Being a student athlete may come with obstacles, one being juggling school along with sports, jobs, extracurriculars, and etc. For example, Carson is a student-athlete who also works a part-time job and she mentions, "It does get stressful at times. Trying to manage my time will definitely be tricky this year. That doesn't mean it's impossible though. I love getting myself involved in many different aspects of life." A way she manages her time between her job, sports, and schoolwork is by planning ahead with her classes and holding herself accountable as she doesn’t have extra work to do outside of class. Since Clark is a student-athlete, she mentions her ways of time management, "Personally, l've always been good at time management, so l've never found it to be a problem. It can get stressful when there's more homework or when we're getting further in the season." Field hockey tryouts began on August 14 to August 16 and the girls have been putting in the work since making the team. The first field hockey scrimmage will be on August 30 against Middletown High School and their first game will be on September 10 against Winters Mill High School at 5:00 p.m.

Over the summer, Catoctin’s volleyball and cheer teams have both been training hard with their summer practices. The volleyball team also held a summer camp from July 22 to July 24 for incoming freshmen. Catoctin’s volleyball team held practices two times a week over the course of the summer and held tryouts fromAugust 14 to August 16. Tryout results came out on August 17. The varsity team consists of: Aubrey Calhoun, Grace Keller, Mya Horman, Jocelyn Hernandez, El Hossain, Jayla Harris, Alex Potter, Ava Bentz, Mackenzie Anderson, Tatiana Owens, and Cadence Lovejoy. Those who made it onto the junior varsity team include: Abby Sparkman, Abby Lawrence, Raquel Owens, Gabby Defriece, Marissa Defriece, Skylar Barnes, Abby Ramsburg, Kali Lacrosse, Elizabeth Frey, Kourtney Bell, Brooke Hewitt, Ashlyn Vaughn, Delaney Warner, and Payton Reid. The team’s first game will be held at Tuscarora High School on September 10, with junior varsity beginning at 5:00 p.m. and the varsity team starting at 7:00 p.m.

Catoctin’s cheerleaders have also been working hard over the summer and conditioning at open practices. The girls worked on conditioning and team bonding during their open gym on July 16. Their last open practice was held on July 23 where the girls prepped for their tryouts, beginning August 14. Tryouts ended on August 16 with this years cheerleaders for the football season being: Addison Smith, Alaina Ridenour, Brooke Baker, Kasey Click, Emma Fogle, Evelina Obest, Faith May, Gabby Miller, Gabby Mowdy, Jayden Floyd, Kaylee Rivera, Morgan Moore, Samantha Cavanee, Samantha Mongold, Sarah Eaves, Summer Bolstic, and Val Lake.

Catoctin is eager for sports to start up again and cannot wait to see what this season brings them!