The Varsity Boys soccer team is an amazing group of athletes that represent our school as the WCS Eagles. We spoke with some of the players in order to gain insight of how the players feel about their sport and how it’s made them grow as students.
We first interviewed a 9th grade soccer player named Ryan Stiggie. When asked about how he felt about the switch from middle school to high school soccer, as well as how he thinks he compares to his older peers on the team. He answered with this.
““Well, I felt nervous, but also excited. It was somewhat weird because I could feel those two feelings at the same time. I felt like my emotions were kind of numb.” He then talks about how high school soccer is different for him rather than middle school soccer. “ I can feel more connection and teamwork with my high school team than I did with my middle school team. I was nervous about playing with older people on the team, but now I’m close with them and I couldn’t ask for a better team. We asked him how he thinks he compares in skill with the varsity players and this was his response, “Even though there is a large skill gap between me and others, I still think I can compare my soccer talent with some of the older players.”
We then moved on to an 11th grader, Boone Fryar. When asked on how he feels about being a senior next year, as well as how he feels about his senior teammates leaving and what he’ll miss about them. He responded with this.
“It’s kind of crazy thinking about how I’ll be a senior next year, but it also feels good. I will miss the seniors, especially my friend Blake Abernathy. It’s sad to know that he’s leaving but I’m glad I got to have one last season playing with him. My favorite memories with the seniors is probably eating dinner together after our games with the team. That’s the best part about having soccer games. ” We also asked him what he hopes to improve on so he’ll be ready for next year. “ I guess I can say my speed. I think if I work on that, I’ll be ready for my last year of soccer.”
The last to be interviewed for the Varsity boys soccer team was Blake Abernathy, a graduating senior. We asked him a couple of questions about him being a senior soccer player and what he has accomplished overtime while playing soccer over the years. When he was asked about his feelings on how he won’t be here next year, as well as how he was inspired to make it here in the first place, he gave great responses and here are his answers.
“It sucks man. I’m not going to have another year here, and I’m going to have to leave my team behind, they all look up to me. As for who inspired me, I could really say my teammate, Boone Fryar. We practice together all the time and it’s just more fun playing soccer when you’re like a family, and that’s what Boone showed me. But as for improvement, I don’t really have any large goals since I’m a defender but I do hope to win more games because that always feels good.”
It is fun enough to watch these boys play, but you really see the difference if you know what happens behind the scenes. The friendships, the work, the brotherhood. All of these things make up our Varsity boys soccer team.
