SPORTS

20 | SPORTS

Physical injuries weigh heavy mentally on student athletes

Abigail Nevin ’23

Web News Editor n order to stay efficient,

Ihigh school athletes must balance sports, social life and school work. However, this specified schedule becomes severely disrupted when an athlete becomes injured, taking a large toll on the mental and physical health of an athlete.

As a member of the Staples varsity soccer, ski and lacrosse team, it is no question that Kate Smith ’22 is an impressive athlete. However, throughout her career, not unlike many other athletes, Smith has faced major setbacks including her most recent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear and surgery earlier this year.

“I have been playing soccer and lacrosse since before I can remember [and have] been skiing ever since I was 2 years old,” Smith said. “Growing up with a brother who also loved playing sports, I immersed myself in athletics at a very early age.”

Many may believe that going through the recovery process for an injury as severe as Smith’s would be tougher physically than mentally, yet she claims the opposite.

“I would say the injury hurt me more mentally than physically,” Smith said. “My daily life was completely flipped around. I couldn’t do the things I truly loved and it was really hard to just sit with my leg propped up for a month.”

Competitive athletes balance a non-stop, strenuous athletic schedule with schoolwork in their everyday lives. It can be a shock to have that pattern disrupted.

Similar to Smith, Meredith

Mulhern ’23 had structured her life around sports.

Tearing both of her

ACLs on opposite legs within the span of two years while skiPhoto by Lily Caplan ’22 ing and playing competitive lacrosse was detrimental to her overall mental health. “Watching my friends play sports while I couldn’t play was really tough,” Mulhern said. “After tearing my ACL [for the second time] playing lacrosse, the recovery was mentally even harder. It was extremely challenging to feel like a lot of the hard work that I had been putting in to get cleared from my first injury was now for nothing.”

Head coach for the girls’ soccer team at Staples, Barry Beattie, has seen many of his most prized athletes combat serious injuries that require immense mental strength for recovery, aside from physical. As a coach, he recognizes the stress that overwhelms athletes as they recover from injury, and he understands what the best methods are to help them stay positive.

“Most of the help we give [the athletes] is mental support,” Beattie said. “It’s about keeping the player involved so they feel like they have a role in the team and can contribute even if they are off the field.” Smith has found a prominent role in her team since her injury by becoming one of the girls’ soccer team managers.

“What also helps to push me is being manager of the girls soccer team,” Smith said. “Seeing those girls work so hard in practice every day and seeing the excitement on their faces after scoring and winning games made me extremely eager to be back on that field, making those memories with them.”

Although the recovery process is long and difficult, the reward of being back on the team is all worth it, as Smith recalls.

“There’s nothing I miss more than the rush of being on a Staples team and I’m so excited to get back.”

ROAD TO RECOVERY

Kate Smith is juggling her ACL recovery while being the manager of the soccer team. She is hopeful she will heal in time for her senior ski season.

Photos contributed by Kate Smith ’22.

SPORTS| 21 Wreckers strive for success in fall season

Hannah Kail ’22

Staff Writer

he 2021 fall sports season is currently underway. With the football team playing their first of-T ficial games since 2019, and the addition of two new fall sports, golf and fencing, a lot of diversity has been added to the season. Read Below for an early update on several fall teams.

The girls’ soccer team started the season with two ties, two wins and one loss in their games against Ridgefield, New Canaan, Greenwich, Danbury and Westhill. “I think we started out with some really competitive games which have shown us what to expect in the upcoming season,” captain Sami Dewitt ’23 said. “We are really excited to continue competing and hopefully get another FCIAC win.” The team, led by captains Gaby Gonzalez ’22, Madison Sansone ’22, Alex Wasserman ’22 and Sami Dewitt ’23, are hoping for yet another FCIAC and state title.

During the COVID-19 quarantine, Anna Pan ’22 had an idea. As someone who had been fencing for years, she thought of expanding her passion for fencing to her school community. Pan and her nine teammates are now ready to take on the season as the first Staples fencing team. “The majority of our attention this season will be focused towards training new recruits; however, our goal is to ultimately win states, which even in our current state, I feel we have a pretty good chance at,” captain Max Piterbarg ’24 said.

NEW SPORT (below) Fencing has been introduced to the Staples High School community after a series of requests to form a team. WIN OVER ST. JOSEPH (below) The boys’ golf team made adjustments after their season was switched to the fall and came out victorious with a score of 160-141.

GAME DAY (center left) Nick Armentano ’22 catches a pass at the game versus Trumbull on Sept. 10. Wreckers went on to win 27-20 . PRE GAME (center right) McKenzie Didio ’22 attends practice in preparation for the game against Darien on Sept. 30.

Photo contributed by Anna Pan ’22

Previously a spring sport, the boys’ golf team has made a big adjustment switching to the fall season. The golf team, led by captains Luca Robins ’22 and Evan Trock ’22, is ready to continue their success from the summer into a strong start to the season. “The fall season should be exciting,” Harrison Browne ’24 said. “Playing with our great team in some new conditions should be a fun challenge.” The team has won six out of eight matches so far and is looking to have another state title under their belts.

Photo contributed by Chris Greer

Scan this QR code to read how fencing became an official Staples sport.

The football team started their season off with winning an intense battle against Trumbull. Charlie Howard ’22 made that win possible with his pick-six to end the game 27-20.

“The season is looking bright for us,” Howard said. “We try to win one day at a time and do not look into the future.” After not being able to play last year due to COVID-19, the team is ready to take back the time they missed.

“Our goal is to go 1-0 every single week and work as hard as we possibly can,” Captain Jack Edwards ’22 said. After their first three games, the team’s record stands at 1-2, with losses to St. Joseph and Cheshire.

Photo by Chloe Murray ’22 Photo by Eli Shorrock ’22

Graphic by Lily Caplan ’22 & Rachel Greenberg ’22

22 | SPORTS Rowdy crowds cause safety concerns

Jalen St. Fort ’22

Staff Writer

Asea of students decked out in white piled into the stands for the football game against Trumbull on Sept. 10. Due to former Wreckers coach Marce Petroccico’s return to Staples for the first time as a visiting coach, and the social media feud between the two teams prior to kickoff, tensions were especially high. By the end of the game, with just a minute left in the fourth quarter, Charlie Howard ’22 had a game-winning interception returned for a touchdown, leading to a 27-20 Staples victory. The crowd went wild, but not for the first time that night. During the game there were numerous instances of unruly crowd behavior, such as fights between Staples and Trumbull students near the concessions stand, milk poured on students, and constant heckling between the respective student sections. All of these outbreaks required securi ty to get involved.

“Rowdy crowds are a part of football, but this was just a little out of hand,” Max Udell ’22 said.

Stu dent Resource Officer Ed Wooldridge agreed.

“There were a lot of things going on throughout the game [...] We weren’t even able to make it to all of the incidents,” Wooldridge said. “There were incidents caused by both schools and the milk came from kids from Ridgefield who had no reason for being at the game.”

Positioning the Staples student section next to the Trumbull student section may have added fuel to the flame.

“Trumbull shouldn’t have been anywhere near our student section,” Augeri said. “The school should have put their other bleach ers across the field so these situations would not have happened.”

Wooldridge believes there is a solution to quell future crowd conflicts.

“When it comes to the bigger upcoming games like Homecoming or senior night, we will continue to add more security to make sure everyone is safe.”

The second home game of the season, a 35-14

loss to St. Joseph on Sept. 17, appeared to be more organized. “The crowd was much better this week,” Wooldridge said. “When it comes to “The game wasn’t necessarily the size of last week’s, but we addthe bigger games [...] we will continue to ed more security to make sure everyone adhered to the rules.” Principal Stafford W. add more security to Thomas Jr. expressed his make sure everyone wishes for Staples Superfans. “We understand how imis safe.” portant the game is to our school -Officer Ed Wooldridge Student Resource Officer community,” Thomas said, “but we just have to make sure that we are fans and not fanatics.”

Scan this QR code to read about the alleged antisemitism that occured during the Staples @ Cheshire football game.

Photo by Lily Caplan ’22

FULL STANDS Staples superfans support the team on Sept. 17 against Saint Joes. However, the Wreckers lost with a final score of 35-14.