WOODBURY — Nothing is guaranteed.

It’s November – the postseason for fall sports. That means one thing: no game and no practice is a sure thing.

Deep into the fall season, I, and all senior athletes, knew our next game could be our last ever.

When the tears started coming, no one could have scripted what came next. A blur of emotions, the sting of reality, and the yearning for a familiar face. Mom.

I didn’t know why the end of my career brought on an insatiable need for my coach and the person I’ve shared a last name with.

“It’s win-or-go-home time,” says Nonnewaug field hockey coach Janet Crocker. “All season long, these student athletes are grinding to make it to the postseason. Once you’re there, that’s where the hard work shows.”

Seniors know that the next game ends one of two ways: win and advance, or “you will never put on a Nonnewaug jersey again,” says Crocker.

Never put on a Nonnewaug jersey again — a sad but harsh reality for seniors. For Nonnewaug senior soccer player Ella Quinn, she tried to soak it in.

“Walking onto the field I really just tried to slow everything down,” said Quinn, who saw her NHS soccer career end in a 2-1 loss against RHAM in the Class M first round. “It was definitely a mix of being sad that it could be our last game and urgency to perform well so that it wasn’t.”

Like Quinn, senior soccer player Maia Colavito prepared for the game differently than any other, knowing that it could have been her last.

“Leading up to the game, I’ve never been in a more serious mindset,” said Colavito. “I slept well, I ate a good breakfast, and I listened to my favorite music. I knew that it could be my last game and that it had a lot of weight for me.”

Like Colavito, I felt that weight, too, whether it was before the game or watching that clock slowly trickle down to zeroes in the Class S field hockey semifinals against Immaculate.

It was 2-0 going into the fourth quarter, and every second that ticked off the scoreboard felt like another pound added to my shoulders.

A pound of dread, sadness and a loss of hope.

While all athletic careers end, some mentally brace for the impact: one last game, one last bus ride, one last chance to put on the uniform. For others, they’re blindsided by the reality of finality.

“I didn’t think it would be my last,” says Nesim Iljazi, a senior boys soccer player whose last game game in a Class M first-round loss to Bacon Academy. “I knew there was a chance it could be, but I didn’t think it would happen considering how we move as a team. In my head I was thinking we just had to take care of business, but we ended up underestimating them a little bit.”

Some are lucky. There are some athletes that see their playing days extend beyond high school, wringing out every drip from their athletic talent pool for just one more taste of competition.

Hailey Goldman, a senior captain on the girls soccer team, understands that while there may be a future ahead on the soccer pitch in college, the days of playing alongside her teammates since eighth grade are over.

“Knowing that it wasn’t my total last game definitely made me less sad,” says Goldman, “but I’m going to miss spending my time with my teammates and friends because they make my afternoon.”

Even knowing the end is near doesn’t make it any less painful. For NHS volleyball, they knew Joel Barlow would be a competitive opponent in the Class M semifinals.

“I honestly kind of knew that was our last game because who we played was very good,” says Lana Zupnick, a senior volleyball player. “It was kind of bittersweet: I was happy with how far we came, but at the same time it was very sad because I knew it was my last year playing.”

Unlike other successful Nonnewaug teams, volleyball was able to write their names in history books.

“In the very beginning of the postseason it was kind of like, ‘Let’s see how far we make it,’” says Zupnick. “Because throughout all Nonnewaug volleyball history, we’ve never made it past quarterfinals, so making it to the semis was huge.”

Even though it may be satisfying knowing that NHS athletes made historic runs, the end of anything is painful.

“Nothing is ever guaranteed,” said Iljazi, “so why not make it enjoyable while it’s happening?”

This is the opinion of Anna Crocker ’26, the Chief Advocate editor-in-chief and senior field hockey player at Nonnewaug.