Sports are a big part of our school, but knowing that these sports exist does not mean that we know the students who play them. People may have seen these sports on TV or gone to games and matches without a clue of what is going on. Many people also have thoughts on these sports, whether negative or positive. With this in mind, I went around our school to interview student athletes from each sport about the misconceptions people have about their sports.
- What is one misconception people have about your sport?
Cheerleading—Riley Jett ’29: “That it’s really easy to do and that it shouldn’t be considered a sport, when we work just as hard as other teams.”
Girls’ Cross Country—Mattea Diuria ’29: “The courses that we run are very boring and easy.” Boys’ Cross Country—Chris Errichiello ’29: “Running is easy.”
Football—Cole Miller ’28: “One misconception is that it’s sort of just a bunch of fat guys running at each other, but there’s actually a lot of chess match and intellectual strategy. It’s not just a bunch of brute force.”
Boys’ Soccer—Simon Gibb ’29: “That we’re weak.”
Girls’ Soccer—Sophie Templier ’29: “I think one misconception is that you don’t do a lot of running in soccer, and it’s actually a lot more tiring. At the end of the games, we are all very tired, and it’s misery.”
Girls’ Swim and Dive—Ava Maralani ’29: “That it’s easy and not real.”
Girls’ Tennis—Olivia Hao ’28: “One misconception about tennis is that it doesn’t take athleticism to be good, which is just a lie.”
Girls’ Volleyball—Thone Myint ’29: “That it’s the easiest sport. I think people view it as the easiest sport to play.”
Boys’ Basketball—Daniel Isenberg ’29: “That you have to be gifted to play, like tall or athletic, but it’s actually dedication or skill.”
Girls’ Basketball—Nene Liu ’29: “That girls basketball isn’t as entertaining as boys basketball even though it’s similar, or that Asians aren’t good at basketball.”
Boys’ Ice Hockey—Jason Yu ’29: “Maybe that all it is is just fighting.”
Girls’ Hockey—Sophie Qi ’29: “That it’s boring compared to the boys’ team, or that we’re not good.”
Boys’ Swim and Dive—Imri Wolf ’27: “You have to shave your body. That is entirely optional.”
Wrestling—Chris Jett ’27: “That a lot of wrestlers have to starve themselves to make weight every week.”
Baseball—David Yonker ’29: “That you don’t have to be athletic to play baseball.”
Girls’ Flag Football-Fanta Coulibaly ’27: “That it’s a non-contact sport.”
Boys’ Lacrosse—Cody Bui ’29: “That it’s not rough.”
Girls’ Lacrosse—Aviya Schwartz ’29: “I guess, like, that girls’ lacrosse is way easier than boys’.”
Softball—Lily Cowder ’27: “Pitching is harder than it looks.”
Boys’ Tennis—Luke Hwang ’27: “That it’s easy and that it’s unathletic, and you just go and hit the ball.”
Girls’ Track and Field—Evangeline Burrows ’29: “Well, the stereotype is that all we do is run, but there’s more than just running. There are other events. There’s an event for everyone.”
Boys’ Track and Field—Wyatt Eldermire ’28: “A lot of people think that all we do is run. We also do a bunch of team bonding and have a lot of strength and recovery days in the weight room.”
I also asked these athletes which sport they wished they were really good at. This was to see whether the misconceptions came up in their reasons for wanting to excel at another sport. I also think it is just a fun question to ask overall.
- What is one sport that you wish you could be really good at?
Cheerleading—Riley Jett ’29: “Either volleyball or soccer, because I feel like those sports get less hated on.”
Girls’ Cross Country—Mattea Diuria ’29: “I want to be a really fast swimmer. I feel like that would be fun. It sounds fun and interesting.”
Boys’ Cross Country—Chris Errichiello ’29: “Swimming. That way I could actually be a lifeguard.”
Football—Cole Miller ’28: “Soccer, because it’s a lot of fun and it’s universal, and also I’m a pretty small person, and you don’t have to be very big for it.”
Boys’ Soccer—Simon Gibb ’29: “Track. I think it’s just because I also run track, but my main reason to run track was to stay fit and to keep myself in shape.”
Girls’ Soccer—Sophie Templier ’29: “I want to be really good at track because I want to be fast.”
Girls’ Swim and Dive—Ava Maralani ’29: “Gymnastics, because it’s cool.”
Girls’ Tennis—Olivia Hao ’28: “Soccer. I have horrible foot-eye coordination, so it would be cool to be good at soccer.”
Girls’ Volleyball—Thone Myint ’29: “Skiing, ’cause it’s tuff, ’cause it has, like, aura.”
Boys’ Basketball—Daniel Isenberg ’29: “Golf. It’s just very relaxing and calming to be playing.”
Girls’ Basketball—Nene Liu ’29: “Soccer, because it seems fun and all of my friends do it.”
Boys’ Ice Hockey—Jason Yu ’29: “Golf, I guess, like, almost every other hockey player plays it.”
Girls’ Hockey—Sophie Qi ’29: “Football, because I played flag football last year, but it takes a lot of teamwork and a lot of sport IQ, but also it’s really fun, and I’m a really competitive person, and I really like competition.”
Boys’ Swim and Dive—Imri Wolf ’27: “Iditarod, ’cause I love dogs and I don’t get cold easily.”
Wrestling—Chris Jett ’27: “Basketball, because a lot of people play it as a pickup sport.”
Baseball—David Yonker ’29: “Basketball, because it’s a fun sport to play recreationally.”
Girls’ Flag Football—Fanta Coulibaly ’27: “Basketball. I grew up watching a lot of basketball, and I play it, and it’s really fun.”
Boys’ Lacrosse—Cody Bui ’29: “Soccer. It’s pretty fun, and it’s also fast-paced as well, which I really like.”
Girls’ Lacrosse—Aviya Schwartz ’29: “I feel like I wanna be good at cross country because of stamina, and I can’t run long distances well.”
Softball—Lily Cowder ’27: “Rock climbing, because I do recreational rock climbing, and I wish I was better at it because it’s cool.”
Boys’ Tennis—Luke Hwang ’27: “Football, ’cause I watch a lot of football.”
Girls’ Track and Field—Evangeline Burrows ’29: “I wish that I was really good at hockey. I think that hockey and ice skating are really cool.” Boys’ Track and Field—Wyatt Eldermire ’28: “Definitely basketball, because it’s a very technical sport, and it’s a lot of fun, but I’m bad at it.”
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