By Connor Hawthorne, Sports Editor
As the 2023-24 school year begins, students are enthusiastic about many upcoming activities: homecoming, new classes, but most importantly, fall sports. Among the many activities available to River Hill students, fall athletics are among the most popular, not just to the athletes themselves, but to the many students who come to watch their games and the many community members who support River Hill athletics. With the fall sports season beginning, students are excited to see their favorite teams once again.
Soccer
River Hill Soccer is back again this year, and better than ever. Both the boy’s and girl’s soccer teams are ready for the season and looking forward to putting in their best effort. Last year the girl’s soccer team won regionals, leaving them with a lot to live up to. Boy’s soccer had a disappointing performance last season; however, many team members are confident that they will do better this year. Allan Ying, a junior right wing on boy’s varsity, explains,“this is going to be a really good season, since last year we underperformed since we had a lot of underclassmen starting on varsity. This year we’re all juniors, we have a few seniors, so its a young team but we have a lot of experience.” Out to redeem themselves from last year, River Hill can expect an exciting season from boy’s soccer this year.
Girls soccer had an incredibly strong team last year and managed to win regionals, an impressive achievement. This season, however, has had a rocky start. Varsity lost their first two scrimmages against Severna Park and Mercy High Schools. Senior Gabbi Demuren, captain of girls varsity, remains optimistic about the season, explaining, “the team got so much better from our Mercy scrimmage to our Severna Park scrimmage this past Tuesday so we are on the track to have a really great season.” The team’s practice paid off when the team won their first game this past weekend when they beat Walt Whitman High School, the state champions for the past four years. Although this is only the start of the season, this is optimistic news, proving that the girls team has a promising season ahead of them. Junior Natalie Lubitz, assures River Hill students that “You can expect a lot of energy, a lot of wins, so come out and watch!”
Volleyball
Another team with a lot of potential this season is volleyball. The group is relatively inexperienced compared to other teams, but has a lot of natural talent and many players are hopeful for their prospects this season. Claire Liu, a senior on the team, explains, “we did lose 10 seniors last year, but we have a lot of different players. I think we have a lot of talent and we have a very good chance for the rest of the season.” As of yet, the team’s strength is hard to gauge, since they have not played any games, however Claire believes that if “we really step it up, work on our lineup we have a good chance.”
One area that volleyball will have to work on is their team cohesion. Claire states,“We have a lot of younger players, a lot of players who haven’t played together before.” Claire elaborates on this, saying, “as a team we want to work on our communication and team spirit because since we are such a new team a lot of us haven’t played with each other before.” No doubt, River Hill students can expect a great volleyball season. Claire confidently states that River Hill students “can expect a lot of energy…it’s not going to be the same as last year because we lost so many seniors, but they can expect a lot of dedication and a lot of spirit from our team this year.”
Cheer
The cheer team is also getting ready for the season. For many students at River Hill, the cheer team is associated with leading the student section in cheers during the football game. While this is one of the activities that they do, they also participate in cheer competitions where they get to demonstrate their acrobatic skills and compete against other teams. Nicoletta Crisitello, a senior on the cheer team, explains how “we’ve already started working on competition stuff like stunting and tumbling.”
Football
The sport which has the largest number of players and most game attendees is football. After winning regionals last year, the River Hill football team is primed and ready to go. Wesley Weinberg, senior linebacker, describes, “the season’s been going great, we have some stuff to work on, like offense and everyone getting into their positions, but other than that we’re doing really well.” This optimism was proved correct during the teams first game against Hammond High School when River Hill football obliterated Hammond with a final score of 57-0. Despite this crushing victory, starting quarterback Omar Hassan remains humble and reminds us that River Hill football still has a lot to work on this year if they want to live up to the high expectations. “I think so far it’s been pretty good for the first game, definitely some stuff to work on but that’s what’s expected, I think as the season goes on we’ll get better, definitely have better communication as a team.”
One challenge that will certainly affect River Hill football this season is that there are fewer seniors than last year. Omar explains how “there’s more rising juniors; we have a good senior class but definitely not as many as last year. The younger guys got to step up more.” Omar believes that this might not hurt the team as much as some people may believe. He states,“‘I think it will affect the team, but not necessarily in a bad way. They gotta learn their assignments and what’s expected of them.” With many exceptional juniors this year such as Shane Shrekengost, Nick Gibbs and Yussuf Shabaz, the junior class certainly seems up to the challenge, ready to step up and help lead the team to victory.
Another challenge faced by the football team so far has been injuries during both practice and games. This has been challenging for both the teams offense and defense. Wesley explained,“We’ve had some other players like Yusuf who’ve been hurt and it’s really hurt our offense and defense.” He remains confident that River Hill will be able to adapt and overcome and that “we’ve had to have players step up and play positions they’re not used to fill in.”
River Hill football is looking forward to a great season and is hoping to make it far this year. As starting quarterback, for better or worse, Omar will ultimately be responsible for much of the team’s performance. He is grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to the season stating that “It’s definitely a privilege to be starting Quarterback, I have to lead our offense to make sure we get our job done, but I love it. I think as the year goes on I’ll start connecting more with my guys and we’ll be on the same page.” Led by the exceptional coaching and with many skilled players such as Wesley and Omar, the football team is looking to do great things this season.
As the fall sports season kicks off at River Hill, the athletes are ready to give their all, striving for victory and growth. This year will no doubt be another great year for River Hill athletics. With dedication from the student community, River Hill’s many sports teams are ready for a season filled with unforgettable moments that fans can’t miss!