By Piper
The beginning of the school year may be a student’s worst nightmare, but there is a light at the end of the school day: fall sports. The Field School has 11 sports teams playing in the fall, including middle school, junior varsity, and varsity level versions of: soccer, volleyball, cross country, and tennis. So far, the teams are looking relatively strong.
VOLLEYBALL
This year, the Varsity Volleyball team has a new coach, Darieal Wimbley — also known as Coach Dee — for the first time in over five years. With more than half the team gone after the previous year’s seniors graduated, the varsity team has found themselves a little short-handed. With eight players, the exact number needed to qualify to compete in the PVAC, players have had to participate in entire games with little resting time. This exhaustion has been evident, as the team has fallen to teams that they should have easily beaten. On the bright side, the team is filled with very skilled players who are dedicated to the team. The short roster hasn’t been just a negative, as it has helped foster a closely bonded team and strong on-court chemistry. The team is also quite young — with only one senior — meaning they will have the time to work on their skills without worrying that a big chunk of the team is leaving. The varsity team took down Field’s rival, Edmund Burke School, in 3 sets on the 20th of October. Coach Dee has very high hopes for the team in the playoffs. “Every team we’ve played is beatable,” she said in an interview. “WIS was the best team that we played, and even though we lost, they’re beatable. We have the team and the skill to go all the way.”
JV Volleyball has a large team this year full of players who are excited to compete! Despite currently having a losing record, they have already shown remarkable improvement in the first few weeks of the season. Coached by Erin Luther, they have continued to strengthen their basic volleyball skills. They have had many close games and have won the point in many back and forth rallies. The team has great chemistry and a strong bond, which is important for a volleyball team. They are certainly looking promising for the future.
Middle school volleyball this season is made up of 13: sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. With four returning Field players, four players who have played on outside teams, and five completely brand new players, there is a nice mix of leading and learning. As head coach John Cichello, “Our returning players: Amwaj, Yesi, Siena, and Lulu provided some great leadership in the learning process. They’re helping the team to have a great spirit.” The newer players have been catching on very quickly, learning the skills of passing, setting, serving, and playing as a team – leading to some very good games. Although middle school volleyball has yet to win a full match (best 2 out of 3), they have won two individual games. They have had several very close games, including one that was so evenly matched, they played past the usual 25 points and eventually lost 28-26.
SOCCER
Varsity girls soccer has a lot of pressure on them this year coming off a championship win last season. So far, the girls have been playing very well, having a record of 3-2-1. Their most recent game was a tie — a very exciting battle against JDS which ended with a score of 4-4 with double overtime. JDS is currently the number one team in the conference, showing that the varsity squad has true potential and are more than capable of winning the whole thing for the second year in a row. At the beginning of the season, they were missing a couple of very key players due to injuries. Now that most of those players have returned, the team just keeps getting stronger and stronger. There are very high hopes for the rest of the year.
Varsity boys soccer has had a very rough start to the season, with a record of 0-8-1. While that has caused immense frustration within the team, they have been trying their best to keep a growth mindset and, as coach Micah Cooks said, “accept that failure is not permanent. Teamwork, sacrifice, and effort are intangibles we have displayed each week.” As the season progressed, the team has been able to grow more confidence while playing and more trust in themselves and each other. Cooks also mentioned that “It’s been said that sports don’t build character, they reveal it.” Although they have had a challenging season, there is definitely a brightside. Their goalkeeper Jasper has shown many all-star performances and they are lucky to have him. The team has put in hard work this year and hope to end the season on a high note.
JV girls soccer doesn’t have a full team, but has enough players to have had a couple games. They have been putting in tremendous work to do well with the team that they have. Like the varsity volleyball team, having a smaller team means that they bond well and their on-field chemistry is very strong, creating a great team environment.
JV boys soccer has yet to win a game, but have played well in the ones they’ve played in so far. “The improvement I’ve seen in these young players is absolutely staggering,” said Coach Nick. While there are a good amount of students on the team, many of them are competitive players on the varsity squad as well. Regardless, all of them strive to improve their skills. This season has offered great learning opportunities so that the team can come back stronger next year. A lot of the team is fresh out of middle school, giving them plenty of time to grow and improve over the next couple of years.
Middle school girls soccer this year has 16 players, 11 being 8th graders. Eight are returning and eight are new. So far this season, they have a 2-1-1 record, defeating the rival team Burke (9-0) and JDS (6-1), losing to WIS, and tying with Berman. Altogether the team has scored 19 goals by more than seven different players. The team has been fun and high spirited with great energy. So far, they have focused most on passing, communication, and positioning. All players have been willing to and are excited about trying new positions, staying flexible, and doing their absolute best. The 8th graders have shown high skill which they are excited to carry into high school next year, while the 6th and 7th graders are improving greatly and hope to become strong team leaders in the future. They are expected to do very well in the playoffs upcoming.
Middle school boys soccer has not started out the strongest, although the players have been getting out there and working hard. They are all highly competitive and are looking as though they will begin to win more games as the season goes on. They haven’t had all of their strong players on the field yet, but with a very large team they are able to fill those gaps just fine. Once those key players return, they surely will become a much more rounded team.
TENNIS & CROSS COUNTRY
The tennis and cross country teams have both had strong starts to this season. The tennis team has won multiple matches, including their most recent one. Their coach, Kyle Hairston, is brand new to Field, and while the players are still getting used to having a new coach and vice versa, they have been playing very well. The team chemistry is continuing to improve, and their team captain Laingley Freemyer has been doing her best to bring up team spirit and keep up this good playing.
Cross country has had many races, with a couple runners placed in the top 10. At the mid season challenge, they played fifth overall. While that wasn’t the ideal outcome, they went on to place first overall at their most recent competition. The team has very strong runners this year, and are expected to finish in the top three overall. Middle school cross country is also very strong, showing a very promising future in the cross country system.
Based on their performances so far, many Field teams are expected to do very well in the playoffs, which are getting closer and closer. Athletic Director Brendon Cole commented that “The fall season is off to a great start, and everyone’s settling in. The chemistry on all teams is phenomenal. I have no doubt that we have teams that will dominate in the postseason.”