Defensive Midfielder Trista Morris mid-kick. (photo courtesy of Michael Clevenger)

Lady Bears making history

By: Jany'ah Kirk

At a nail-biting ending at this year's All "A" Classic held at Walden School, the Lady Bears soccer team made their first ever appearance in school history this '22 season with hopes to win the title as champs. Since Brown School established an all-girls team not even 6 years ago, Brown's girls have struggled to achieve a winning record over the years and never even had a thought of appearing in the first round of the All "A" Classic. They had that chance this year in playing against the Whitefield Academy Wildcats, an outstanding team on the field, not only this year but in the previous years as well. Brown’s girls had always gotten mercy ruled (10-0) against this team every year. The Lady Bears came up short even recently, in the August 9th game, losing 7-1. For the entire first half, the Lady Bears held the Wildcats to a 0-0 score, upping the intensity of the game when Peyton Goodman (12) scored, making it 1-0, with the Lady Bears up 1 entering the second half. The Wildcats came out very aggressive in the second half, desperate for their first goal. Their best player, Sara Ritter (14), was being chased by fullback Jany’ah Kirk (5). Brown’s coach Josh Luttrell told Kirk, “follow her everywhere. If she goes to talk to her coach you go talk to the coach too. Still desperate for the first goal, the Wildcats just couldn't connect with the goal to score, making several over-the-goal kicks and getting multiple stops by Browns goalkeeper, Leyla Taylor (30). With just about 5 minutes remaining in the second half, the Wildcats got their very first goal, made by Sara Ritter (14), making the final score 1-1 leading to end the game with penalty kicks. The Lady Bears did end up not being able to connect as many kicks as the Wildcats did — advancing the Wildcats to the final round of the All-A Classic. 
The Brown School gym celebrates Track & Golf achievements. (Photo courtesy of Bug Bowles)

Sports opportunities at Brown

By: Lizzie Rademaker

Even though Brown is a small school it offers many different sports to give every one of its students a chance to play the sport they love. There is such a wide range spanning from the basics, like basketball or soccer, to more unique sports like archery or golf. It’s so important for students to have an outlet to do what they enjoy and what makes them happy. The sports opportunities at Brown also help connect students through teamwork.  More people would enjoy their time at Brown if they were involved in sports they love but not many people even knew about our less popular sports teams. I asked a few students at Brown on how we could improve the involvement and advertisement in our sports. They had some interesting ideas.Paul Rademaker, a sophomore I interviewed, said he thought they could improve their sports by advertising their interest meetings and practices in more ways than just the announcements. He thought the talking during the announcements was so loud that no one was able to hear about the interest meetings even if they did want to play that sport. I also interviewed Shelby Geraghty, a sophomore and former member of the newspaper. She had an idea that their sports might be bigger and better if the school had even more sports options that they provide. Having more could pull in more athletic and sports-driven people who could also play our other sports. Remy Lebouf had a similar idea to Shelby’s and said the school could think a little more about athletics when accepting new people to Brown. He thought the school could focus a little more on sports when thinking about applicants and students. All of these wonderful ideas could exponentially improve the sports’ teams at the Brown School. Not many people know about the less popular or smaller sports at the Brown. Many students would feel happier and more satisfied with our school if they knew that the sport they love to play is at this school. The sports teams at Brown would also benefit from more people and many students agree.  Paul is a student on the tennis, e-sports, archery, and soccer teams. All of these sports have about 10-15 people, the high school tennis team only has about 8 people. He thinks all of these teams should grow and would benefit from more people and players. Shelby is on the swim and soccer teams. There are only about 15 people on the swim team, even though the team is both high school and middle school. She said she thought the swim team would benefit from having more people as well. There are so many different options for sports at Brown, but no one knows about them. It is important for students to be aware of all of the sports at their school so everyone has an outlet for their interests.
Above: Nolton Alfred, a sophomore, kicks a corner kick (Photo courtesy of Egan Evans)

Brown soccer 2022: successful again

By: Egan Evans

The Brown School soccer season has come to an end and this year was a successful one. The Bears soccer team ended on a winning season with a record of 9-6.The team was a well-oiled machine and had good fluid motion on plays. One of the team's major players, Grant Stone, who just wrapped up his final season at Brown said "We had a good season and we played well."The team will unfortunately be losing some top players this off season though with the likes of Grant Stone, Sam Clevenger and Finn Grishop-Goodwin because they will graduate this year. But the team has some bright stars that will be able to take their place. In addition there is always a new freshman on the horizon. But the team started finding success after years of drought and will hope to continue this streak of success into the next season and even farther,making the world fear playing the Brown Bears soccer team.

Lady Bears pose for a photo at their game vs. KCD. (Photo courtesy of Josh Lutrell)

Brown School girls' soccer team

By: Lizzie Rademaker

This year at the Brown, the girl’s soccer team has done amazing things. Everyone should support the sport’s teams, especially the girls soccer team. They have been doing so well and some support would really help them. It’s important for our soccer team to be able to look at the sidelines and see lots of support from parents or friends. It is also important for the students at Brown to recognize the amazing accomplishments of the team this year. The season is coming to a close but the girl’s team set a record with their total number of wins for the season. In past years, the team has had no more than 5 wins in one season, however this year the team got a total of 13 wins in their season, which just ended. They also have 2 ties and only ended up with 5 losses. This year the team has had so much more support and that has helped the team by showing that people care and supporting our members. The team is doing so much better and would continue with the right amount of support, whether it’s student or parent. The team is growing and it is really exciting for everyone at Brown, even if they don’t play soccer or sports. They only lost one player going into this season but gained 5 new players. 3 freshmen (Taylor Morris, Trista Morris, and Leyla Taylor), 1 senior (Peri Hamilton), and 1 sophomore (Shelby Geraghty). One of the freshmen is their new goalie, Leyla, and another is their lead scorer, Taylor, who made 60 goals throughout the season. The team is expanding and the future's looking good for the girl’s soccer team. A growing team needs more support. The team has had so much more student and parent support this season but it is still a small fraction of what it could be. It is important for as many people that can make it, to go out and support the team to see these amazing new achievements and accomplishments. At the game they had against Atherton, almost the whole boy’s soccer team, along with others, came out and supported them. I think it is so important for people and students at our school to have school spirit and support our sport’s teams whenever they can. It really helps the players if they know they have support in the stands. I have been to other schools' games and they have so many students and parents on the bleachers and on the side lines compared to the sports at Brown which have little to no people show up, even at our home games. More people in the stands can help boost the confidence of the players, intimidate the other team, and provide extra support on faulty calls. The increasing amount of games won has really made the games much more interesting and fun to watch. Everyone should really try and support the sports teams any time they can. Without support from our students and parents, the team’s performance might not be affected all that much but the player’s attitudes and moods can be lifted with support. Without support, the team could feel even more down when they are losing, as opposed to being hopeful because of the supporters cheering them on from the sidelines. If no students are showing support to the girl’s soccer team, the players are less likely to want to play and enjoy the sport. They might feel alone because no one is there to support them. It would help boost morality and spirit if there was more student support. Every student that can should support the team when they can. Going to the games could also help grow sports and athletic participation at Brown. If more people show up to the games, they could decide that they want to join the team. They could bring friends who weren’t previously aware of the sport or how it worked. This could grow their teams and they might even decide they want to continue going to the games and that would grow the support on the sidelines. The sports at Brown really need as much help as they can get. So, as you can see, attendance at the sports games has been a key factor in our wins so far. Even more attendance would really help boost our sports. 

Hometown hero

By: Hayden Pollock

If you're from Louisville, you know the face. If you watch TV, you know the name — from Louisville, Kentucky — Muhammad Ali: the greatest, considered by many for not just time in the ring, but also outside of it. His impact stretched much further than just Louisville.

Born January 18, 1942 in Louisville, Ali didn't have it easy. Ali grew up in an America that was much more racist than the one we live in, today. He was 13 when Emmitt Till was lynched. When the news broke to Ali, he realized that reality could happen to him or his brother. He was a very involved activist, joining alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the march on Washington. He was also very active in protesting war and spoke about non-violence at colleges. He would, however, end up being drafted then declaring not to go. He was then arrested for a 2-year sentence and a 3-year ban from boxing.

Aside from being heavily involved in activism, Ali was most known for boxing. His career record was 56 wins with 5 losses and only one being a knockout loss. He found boxing after having his bike stolen at age 12 then reporting it to an officer who offered to train him in defense. Ali went back the next day and the rest is history.

Ali’s grandson Nico Ali Walsh is following in his grandfather's footsteps by having started a professional boxing career. With his first match taking place in 2021 he has been 6-0 with 5 knockouts. He had second thoughts on boxing but, before his death, Ali was keeping him more involved with the sport. During his debut, he wore a pair of Ali's personal shorts that were passed onto him.

It'll be great to watch Nico grow not only as a fighter but fighting for what he stands for. He has great potential and can be a great fighter. With this we can see how much he wants to fill his uncle's footsteps and how much he wants to contribute. Nico can be another hometown hero.

Brown's trophy case honoring the achievements of athletes over the years. (Photo courtesy of Bug Bowles)

Special treatment of athletes

By: Egan Evans

I will be very blunt: athletes get special treatment in the court of law. For example, the most recent account of this is Desaun Watson, the current Cleveland Browns quarterback. Watson was charged with 12 accounts of sexual assault, and his punishment was an 11 game suspension and a 5 million dollar fine. I couldn’t believe this, and I was outraged. Basically what this is saying is that if I am a world-class athlete, I can do whatever I want and only be suspended from my league. Any normal person faced with one charge of sexual assault could be faced with a year to life in prison but an all-star quarterback will not face the same repercussions. This isn’t the only account of this. Another account of special treatment was when Rajon Rondo, a point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, pulled a gun on a family and claimed it to be an act of self-defense. What was his punishment? He didn’t have one and supposedly an agreement was made with the family and the charges were dropped. But maybe the most infamous cases and most controversial cases in sports history is O.J Simpson. Did he do it, did he not? With lots of evidence stacked against “The Juice”, as he was called, the courts ruled him innocent of the murders. O.J Simpson later wrote a book titled If I Did It and many people believe it to be his confession to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. As you can see athletes get special treatment and I believe that this needs to stop.I think this because it shows that the people who should be held at the highest standard are actually being held at the lowest standard. If these people are getting away with such violent crimes, that means that our court system is idolizing these people and thinking that they can do nothing wrong- or they just don’t want to tank their fantasy team.
Pictured top to bottom: Hayden Pollock mid-game vs. Atherton. (Photo courtesy of Paul Vitato); Catherine Campbell's senior banner (Photo courtesy of Michael Clevenger)

Should you be a student athlete?

By: Jany'ah Kirk

What is a Student athlete?  “It is a term used to describe students enrolled in secondary schools, who participate in an organized competitive sport sponsored by that educational school,” as stated on Wikipedia. Having a hectic schedule while also trying to feel like a normal teen can feel like a chore, especially if you work, go to school, and are involved in a sport. Doing what you love while also balancing your life out is just overwhelming- but it definitely has been achieved by Catherine Campbell and Hayden Pollock, Brown School seniors that make it look easier than it is.   

Hayden and Catherine's top priorities are balancing school, work, and sports, while also trying to make time for friends and family events. Both seniors started to work their sophomore year and had sports to play, too. Catherine, a member of the soccer team, and Hayden, a member of the basketball team, have both been playing since they were freshmen- not to mention, both students having to balance this out with the stress of the pandemic when it just started. I conducted an interview with both students to get their perspective on how this busy lifestyle makes them feel, and what effect it has on their personal life outside of school, work, and sports. 

Student athletes have a life outside of school, work, and sports, just like regular people who just go to school or people who just go to work. They wake up just as tired as your average civilian. Catherine Campbell, who plays for our girls soccer team, says, “I’d say what motivates me to keep up with everything is that I know after high school is over, I’m not going to get the chance to have that same routine. I just try to make everything I do on a daily basis as fun as possible. Although during soccer season, my days are long, I always try to look on the bright side because I know it's worth it.” 

Sometimes, people think student athletes never have time for anything but sports, school, and work, if they have a job, but that isn't the case. Each student has their own way of keeping up with their personal life, whether it's a call or actually hanging out with family and friends. 

“My time for friends comes when there is free time on my schedule and I have nothing to do. I set time aside for family at the beginning of each week by just communicating when I'll be able to. Some weeks, I have no time for friends,” says Hayden Pollock, a member of our boys high school basketball team. 

Now, having sports and work can sometimes make student athletes distance themselves from the thing that's most important, their grades. I asked both seniors how they maintain their grades with such a busy schedule.

Hayden says, “Using any open time to complete work and college essays, because my week usually consists of going to school, and practice 3 to 8 pm Monday through Thursday. Then, I work most days on weekends 4pm to close.“  

Catherine says, “During soccer season I usually try to go to the library after school and do homework for a few hours on the days we don't have practice or games. I just know I have to stay locked in, and working at the library helps me focus a lot more than if I stay home.” Catherine has more of a planned time to focus on her work, but regardless each student works out a way for themselves to get their work done.

Two different students with two different schedules, but each finds a way to complete the necessary workload for school while also having a personal life. Everyone has their own way of doing things. Student athletes are amazing individuals and at the heart what motivates them to keep up with it all is the importance of the future. It does take a strong minded individual to be a student athlete but everyone has it in them it's just if you really want it or not.