Sports combine both skill and pride to create a form of competition. So when freshmen enter a team that’s designated for upperclassmen, it creates a sense of accomplishment and talent. This is mainly accomplishable with many freshmen joining club sports before entering the high school playing field.
This year, the school’s varsity teams added an increasing number of new freshmen to the 25-26 rosters. There are a total of eight freshmen on the varsity girls’ soccer team and two freshmen on the varsity boys’ basketball team, according to West Covina High School’s athletic page. Whereas last year, there were only two freshmen on the varsity girls’ soccer and no freshmen on varsity boys’ basketball.
An important factor that ultimately swayed the coaches’ decision in allowing these freshmen on the team, despite having less experience, into varsity was their understanding of the basics.
“We’re not just gonna add on the varsity squad if we don’t think they’re ready, but if we see… a certain level of intensity, and they can keep up with that level, I think that’s a good sign… something promising as young as they are,” head varsity girls’ soccer coach Luis Osuna Zayas said.
As many of these freshmen played in club/travel teams in their respective sports, through practices from teams and coaches that gave them previous experience, they were able to get ahead in their middle school team. This made them fit directly into the coaches’ high school varsity level.
“Before high school, I played a lot of AU or travel ball, which gave me a lot of in-game reps, and I was also able to play up, like older divisions… and middle school ball was kind of carefree,” freshman boys’ varsity basketball player Kyle Zhen said.
Freshman girls’ varsity soccer player Emma Tapia was also in a club team before joining the varsity team in high school.
“Before I made it onto varsity, is me joining club soccer, which really helped me with… my skills and being able to play at this high of a level… I’ve been playing for maybe, nine, 10 years,” Tapia said.
Joining teams outside of schools gave these freshmen a head start, allowing them to jump straight away to varsity. Some players don’t even need to play their sport for long. Club sports allow these players to improve their skills fast and build on areas they need to work on.
“I started in seventh grade, travel ball, in a team called Prime Time. And then I transferred onto other travel ball teams, but I played seventh grade, eighth grade, and then freshman year,” freshman boys’ varsity basketball player Noel Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez played for two years, yet has already gained a reputation from his coach when playing on the varsity team.
“Noel has a skill set in scoring and shooting that, you know, he is years beyond his game. From the first day he came in, in summer league, he made impact. He was scoring twos, threes, threes a game,” head varsity boys’ basketball coach Joshua Aguilera said.
Club sports allow these freshmen to develop the fundamentals, just enough for the coaches to see their potential and build off of it. As freshmen, they have more time to become even better in the next few years on the varsity team.
“Kyle is a vocal leader as a freshman, and over the next three years, I see him being more of a leadership role on this team, running the team as a point guard,” Aguilera said.
As these freshmen have three more years of high school, they have more time and practice to improve their skills and potentially win championships.
“Going into the next three years, what we want from them is to be the best players in their class. …If we can get these girls to always be ahead of the game compared to the other girls , I think we have something very promising in the next few years. We’re hoping to make playoffs as many times as possible… and they’re already here from the beginning,” Zayas said.
Though skills are already polished, Aguilera explained that the maturity level could be worked on in the next few years.
“I think with freshmen on varsity, there’s a little bit more patience that has to be taught… They play years beyond their game. I think that there’s a little bit more goofing around that they have to kind of… get used to being more serious right away,” Aguilera said.
Being a freshman at the highest level of high school sports can be rewarding, but it doesn’t come without hard work. Though without a doubt, it’s impressive that freshmen are able to play in varsity for their age.
