High school is a whirlwind of hormones and changes that would ensue chaos in the life of an average adult. Adapting to these changes is one of many things that high school age kids learn to live with early on. Of these, the constant loss of seniors post-graduation hurts the most. These feelings are predominant within sports teams that feel more like family than your everyday classmate. 

“After being able to play a sport with someone and grow a friendship, for a year, it is really sad to watch them leave.” said sophomore Madison Richardson. 

Most sports teams have a close family-like bond: you practice everyday, and depend on one another during games. It builds an unexplainable relationship with people that you may only speak to during your season, but if you called them up asking for help, they’d pick you up in a heartbeat. 

“I don’t have any sisters, but playing sports has given me sisters,” said junior Keiri Velasquez. “If I ever need anything, they are always the ones that I turn to; my team members are more than friends; they are a second family to me.” 

The loss of senior teammates is difficult for any team, especially the dedicated and family-like players you may have grown close to as you played beside them. One tradition that many teams carry on with to give the seniors a last hoorah and fellow teammates a time to reminisce and let the occasional tear flow is senior night, a celebration usually accompanied with food, drinks, and cake after one of the last matches of the season. Coaches may present small gifts and congratulations to the graduates. Some seniors also may give a present and a thanks to their coach or coaches, this acts as a way to end the season bitter sweetly and give a send off to forever Trojans. 

“I honestly think senior night is a great tradition,” said junior Jacob Rumsey. “It helps to celebrate all the kids who put in the hard work, whether that be four years or one year, I don’t think it matters on senior night, I think it doesn’t just celebrate your sport, it celebrates you as a student.” 

As much as we’d like it to stop, high school is the end of a chapter. With an ending comes goodbyes. Teams learn how to adapt and persevere through troubling times together, and they build up each other, preparing one another to move on to bigger and better things in life, whether it be the workforce, college, or anything else, playing sports teaches athletes how to problem solve on and off of the field. 

“I’m definitely going to miss everybody on the team,” said senior Luke Connick. “I’ve built a very strong relationship with a lot of the guys on the team, so it’s definitely going to be something I miss. It’s been my home for the past four years.”