Deborah Flaherty

Freshman Oliver Boroski and sophomore Travis Jones run in a meet at Nonnewaug against Northwestern and Shepaug.

WOODBURY — Freshmen athletes: Can you live up to the expectations Nonnewaug puts in place for our sports teams?

With 248 athletes participating this fall, Nonnewaug High School encourages athletes to sign up for sports. Although NHS does have a large sports program compared to others in the Berkshire League, the graduation of last year’s seniors left a dent in the rosters.

The boys soccer team, for example, has gone from 42 players down to 28, including all of the new students participating.

Nonnewaug staff members want freshmen to compete in sports and activities. The question is: Is this beneficial or is it pressuring students to participate?

Nonnewaug athletic director Declan Curtin says one benefit of joining a team is the ability to collaborate with peers.

“For me, it’s imperative that kids, especially after COVID, get out and run around, be active, be involved and participate,” Curtin said. “There’s a word that’s very important that all kids should know, and that is synergy. Synergy means that we should feed off of each other.”

Chiefs athletic trainer Sean McGee encourages students to play a sport for the physical benefits.

“Anything physical actually increases every kind of physical attribute,” McGee said. “Flexibility, strength, endurance — everything just increases. They get better and they actually get a jump ahead of most kids who don’t do athletics.”

Some may say that upperclassmen make sports harder for underclassmen by setting unrealistic expectations, or freshmen could make it harder for juniors and seniors. McGee doesn’t see it that way.

“The upperclassman sometimes kind of takes the underclassman or freshman under their wing and teaches them the ropes, teaches them one thing or another thing,” said McGee.

Nonnewaug freshman Cameron Packett, who plays soccer this fall as the JV goalie, believes upperclassmen help guide freshmen.

“I think that the seniors on my team have affected me by motivating me to try harder,” Packett said. “Sports have helped me make new relationships and have overall been really enjoyable.”