As the winter sports season approaches, that means it is time for basketball season. Among the many sports to be excited about this year is Girl’s Basketball led by Coach Creel. The team’s upcoming season is set to be different than other years; as Seneca Girls Basketball has taken place in recent conference realignment. This means that the team will be facing a different set of teams in conference play. When asked about what she is most forward to this season, Coach Creel responded, “I am looking forward to more connections, more memories and capturing positive moments throughout the season! I am also looking forward to our new conference alignment that includes Moorestown, Cherry Hill West, Camden County Tech, Winslow and Shawnee.  These teams should provide a more competitive environment than the division schedule we have played the past few years.” 

If you have ever been involved in athletics, you have maybe once considered/thought about coaching. Coaching provides you with new insight into the sport in question and comes with a variety of benefits for both the coach and the players. Coaching teaches you valuable experience that you can use in all aspects of your life. When asked how her experience as a coach has taught her, Coach Creel answered, “Coaching has taught me not to take advantage of the opportunities I get to impact kids' lives.  It is a special job that can carry a lot of weight and I am grateful for the time I get to spend with these young ladies.  It has taught me to adapt, to be patient and to be intentional about my connections on and off the court because at the end of the day, the relationships are what matter most.” When asked about her favorite part about coaching, she responded, “My favorite part about being a coach is seeing the girls grow up! It is really fun to watch them start to understand why and how the way we do things will benefit them in their lives after high school.  It's fun to see them grow as human beings and begin to shape into their own, unique person.  My second favorite part about being a coach is getting to have an impact on kids and having them reach out after they graduate and reflect back on their time spent in the Seneca Girls Basketball program!”

Are you excited about basketball season? If so, you should consider attending some girls’ basketball games this season. Personally, my favorite sport of the winter sports season is basketball. I will definitely be attending some basketball games this season - and I hope to see you there as well! 

Seneca fall sports in 2022 had a great season, with success in most if not all sports during the 2022 fall sports season. One example of this is the Seneca Girls soccer team - who finished with a winning record and advanced all the way to the state semi-finals. Like years past, Seneca Girls' Soccer proved to be a formidable foe for opposing teams. Girls' soccer scored many goals throughout the season, scoring seven goals against Winslow! The highlight of their season was a victory against Sterling to win the sectional title. Without a doubt, Seneca Girls' Soccer has a reputation for winning. My cousin played girls' soccer at Timber Creek and forever resents Seneca for beating her team in the playoffs. At Thanksgiving, I will make sure to remind my cousin about the continued success of the Seneca Girls' soccer team. 

Some schools are known for their big-name football programs, baseball programs, and basketball programs. With all of these large, “Big Four” sports dominating the sports conversation, little attention has been given to bowling. If you didn’t know, Seneca has a bowling team. This team is run by coach Mrs. Ellis and is one of the only sports in the school where girls and boys play on the same team. Despite being a smaller school in the district, Seneca has had an outstanding season thus far and has had an impressive reputation for the past few years!

When asked about the outstanding success of the team, Annemarie Zack responded, “Our success comes from all of us becoming friends and supporting each other. It really kept the spirit up!” Just like other sports, bowling requires teamwork and is a very essential quality to possess for a successful team. As of their most recent match, the steam stands at 10-3 on the year. NJ.com ranks Seneca at #7 in the state as of January 11th. 

When asked about her experience with the team, Annemarie answered, “My experience so far has been really fun, I’ve been playing since freshman year with everyone and we’ve all bonded since then. Everyone is encouraging and it’s always the highlight of my day!” This highlights how much of a positive experience playing for the bowling team is. 

Top 10 in the state, 10-3 record, and being #4 in the Olympic Conference, the Seneca Bowling Team is outstandingly successful. How did they get there? The bowling team got there by a strong bond between teammates, and an encouraging environment.

For many people, upon hearing the words “school sports”, the sports they envision are those such as soccer, basketball, baseball, or football. However, one sport that often goes unnoticed is cheerleading—specifically, basketball cheerleading. At Seneca, there is a basketball cheer squad consisting of approximately twenty-five extremely talented girls. Many Seneca students disregard the talent, hard work, and long hours of practice that it takes to be a court-side cheerleader, especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic. We had the opportunity to interview one of the coaches, Mrs. Fisher, along with some of the incredible cheerleaders on the team, regarding their experiences.

Mrs. Fisher has been coaching basketball cheer since 2013, but was a coach for football cheer until a few years ago. “I think my favorite part of coaching is getting to know these girls better, and hopefully impacting their lives in a positive way,” she wrote. “I want cheer to be fun and enjoyable for them, but at the same time, it can be hard work, which will improve their skills and show progress in their abilities. I love when they get a dance or cheer, or when they "hit" a stunt they've been working on. [The] excitement of their accomplishment is the reward.”

On how the pandemic affected the team, Fisher explained, “Since the pandemic has hit, our numbers have gone down, but honestly that's understandable. We still have a good number of cheerleaders who want to do it, and I feel it is a successful program.” Cheer has been invalidated as a sport for decades, and Fisher agreed, writing, “I definitely think cheer, in general, gets overlooked as a sport, and these kids work just as hard as others. They put in 4-5 days a week usually, and they feel that their activity is as important as all the others, and I agree.”

Emmalee Gittinger, a current senior and a cheerleader of thirteen years, had to miss a year of basketball cheer. Her favorite parts of cheerleading are forming new friendships, bonding with the girls that are on the team, and “the adrenaline rush that comes with it”. But cheerleading doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves as a sport. Gittinger admitted, “I’ve always heard ‘cheerleading isn’t a sport’. Many people can’t see it [as one]. There’s still physical activity in it- I don’t see a difference between other sports.” 

Another member of the Seneca cheerleading teams, Molly Angelov, was also kind enough to share her perspective and experiences as a cheerleader. Angelov has been a cheerleader for nine years, initially starting as a football cheerleader, and with plans to continue her career in college. She recently began her basketball cheerleading career thanks to the pandemic. Previously, she managed the wrestling team, but due to the pandemic putting a halt on contact sports, she decided to take a different path instead. Angelov admitted, “I actually didn’t think I would like it!”. However, she was pleasantly surprised by her experience. When asked how cheer has impacted her life positively, she exclaimed, “I can’t imagine myself not doing it- it brings me so much happiness!”. 

Angelov and Gittinger both expressed frustration at the all-too-familiar remark, cheer isn’t a sport. “The number of times I’ve heard that cheer isn’t a sport…” Angelov recalled, “There’s a lot of different aspects of cheerleading that people don’t think about.” Despite the invalidation that many cheerleaders feel at times, these two proved the sport is more about positive experiences than anything else. “There’s something so addicting about the adrenaline rush of going in front of people,” Angelov marveled. 

Next time you’re at a Seneca boys’ basketball game, consider taking an extra moment to appreciate all of the hard work the courtside cheerleaders put into their routines. They practice almost every day during the season (excluding weekends), and oftentimes go without nearly enough appreciation! Keep up the great work for the rest of the season, cheerleaders—it certainly pays off!

Max Borton is a determined student-athlete here at Seneca High School. Currently, he is a junior, but before coming to Seneca in the fall of 2019, he attended Olson Middle School in Tabernacle, New Jersey.

Borton started participating in wrestling at the young age of four years old and has done it ever since. Not only that, but he also used to play baseball and football.

Mr. Bauer, a counselor here at Seneca High School, currently coaches Max and has done so every since his freshman year. When asked about Borton being part of the team, he detailed, “Max has always had talent as a wrestler, but, over the past few years, he has matured a lot both as a student-athlete and as a young man.” Along with that, Bauer further explained how Max has successfully taken on a leadership role, due to the several seniors they lost from last year. More specifically he stated, “We graduated 9 starters last year, so Max has been asked to take on more of a leadership role this year, and he has done a good job.” He closed with, “On the mat, he is fun to coach, as he is always looking to score points, and always makes it exciting.  It has been a pleasure watching him grow as a student-athlete, and we are excited to see him continue to make strides.”

For his future athletic career, Max hasn’t decided whether or not college is in his future and instead is considering joining the United States Marine Corps.

In terms of what the season looks like this year, Borton said, “The season is finally back to normal”. For instance, last year, the boys unfortunately had their season not only shortened, but it started much later than usual. The regular season would’ve started in December and ended in February, but with the previous season(in the midst of Covid-19), it began in March and only went until the end of April, leaving much of the team disappointed.

When asked about his individual record and team’s as a whole, Borton wrote, “The team is doing pretty good…no one expected us to be as skilled because we lost 9 seniors, but a lot of young guys stepped up.” He further detailed, “My season has been going well so far…I won two tournaments and my record is 12-0”. 

*this was as of last week*

For his experience with wrestling thus far, Max expressed that it has been such an incredible experience wrestling for Seneca High School. He detailed, “It is awesome…it makes you tough and not many people can do it.”

Overall, not only has Max had a successful wrestling career and season thus far, but the team is already at a 9-4 record for the season! Good luck on the rest of the wrestling season boys!!

The Seneca Girls Field Hockey Team has done it again. On Tuesday, November 9th, the team played against Haddon Heights in the Sectional Finals. The girls gave it their all and it resulted in them winning their 5th Sectional Championship! The Bird’s Eye View Staff interviewed Head Coach, Ms. Foster, along with some of the varsity players to give their take on this season.

When asked about how the season played out for the team, Ms. Foster explained that they ended their season with a 16-7-1 record, playing their last game at the State Final Game. However, earlier in the season, they beat the Shawnee Girls Field Hockey Team for the first time in program history! She further detailed, “We ended with taking down three higher-seeded teams to win our 5th straight Sectional title!”. As for some of the star players on the team, many of them had outstanding accomplishments. Seneca seniors Tess Strittmatter and Sophia Abate, along with sophomore Kyleigh Welusz, all made First Team All-Conference. As for the players who made Second Team All-Conference, they were senior Maddie Epps, junior Addison Rivera, and freshman Maddie Stillwell. Not only that, but Strittmatter and Abate also made First Team All-South Jersey! Tess was also selected to play in the Senior All-Star Game too!

The next question we asked Ms. Foster was, “How has coaching this team impacted you as a person? What has it taught you and why does the team mean so much to you?”. To which she responded, “Coaching has a lot of value. It has a similar impact that teaching has, where you are able to connect with students and try to teach them valuable lessons. While coaching may have a different focus than teaching, the process is the same where you guide them to achieve their goals.” Foster further explained how she feels so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity to coach at Seneca High School. She said that every team each year surprises her in various ways. Foster closed with, “This year’s team achieved more than they thought was possible. They worked hard, trusted the process, and earned their success.”

As for her initial reaction when her girls won the sectional title for the 5th time, Ms. Foster detailed, “After we won the Sectional game this year[,] my initial reaction was: relief. It was a hard-fought game but deep down we believed we were the stronger team.” She continued by saying that it was an incredible feat for their team as they had a strong graduating class last year, thus, many didn’t believe the girls would even make it to that game this year. “Once we were in our run of playoffs and saw how determined the girls were, the coaches knew we could do it again. Their reaction was something I will never forget” said Foster.

In order to gain a different perspective from the players themselves, the Bird’s Eye View Staff asked two of the varsity starters, Seneca sophomore Kyleigh Welusz and junior Addison Rivera. When asked about her experience playing Seneca Field Hockey this year Welusz stated, “It was amazing. Our senior leadership brought us all together to achieve more than we thought. As a team, we are so proud that we are able to keep our winning tradition going for the fifth year in a row!”. 

As for Rivera, she explained, “Playing Seneca Field hockey this year was definitely different. In the beginning of the season I wouldn't have imagined being a varsity starter, but throughout the season, I knew I belonged (with the help of my teammates of course). This season was beyond amazing with all the accomplishments we had. Teams doubted us because of players we lost last year, but this season we beat Shawnee for the first time, beat a team that had a perfect season, and beat the 1st seed…and became champions for the 5th year in a row. This is so unbelievable. Best experience I had when playing a sport.”

Overall the Seneca Girls Field Hockey Team never fails to uphold their outstanding reputation and continue to amaze the entire Seneca Family every year. We applaud them on their amazing success with the past season and wish them further success for the years to come!

Abbey Johnson is a dedicated senior student-athlete here at Seneca High School in Tabernacle, New Jersey. Prior to coming to Seneca in the fall of 2018, Abbey attended Indian Mills Memorial School.

Johnson has been playing soccer for the past twelve years. When she was younger, she was on a pee-wee soccer team and has continued playing the sport ever since. Along with soccer, she has participated in basketball since fourth grade and has been playing for Seneca since her freshman year.

Mr. Abate, a Business teacher here at Seneca, coached Abbey during her high school soccer career. When asked about Abbey, he wrote, “Abbey Johnson is a natural leader and a player of high character. Abbey is a fantastic student athlete who understands that there is more to soccer than winning. Abbey understands that being a part of a program involves hard work, teamwork, unity, integrity, etc. which are all just as important as the score at the end of the game. In addition to being an extremely talented player, she is truly selfless and we are going to really miss her in the program.”

For her future athletic career, Abbey explained that wherever she decides to go for college, she hopes to continue to play soccer and basketball, even if it’s just a pick up game with friends. She added, “I might try out for club soccer and basketball in college or try out for the school’s soccer team.”

As for the 2021 season, despite some Covid-19 restrictions still in place, it felt like everything was back to normal, unlike her junior season last year. She continued with, “Last year, our season was delayed and we only got to play half as many games as there are in a regular season. We got shut down, didn’t have a banquet, and for the beginning[,] we couldn’t even [make] contact.”

This year, the Seneca Girls Soccer program had an amazing season. Abbey explained, “[We] went 11-5-1 which is I think the best record out of the years I[‘ve] played.” Unfortunately, they lost during the second round of playoffs, the ending score being 4-3. In the second half, the opposing team was up by three points, and Seneca managed to come back, which is difficult to do when behind by three goals. It was a very memorable game for her as it was her last game of her Seneca Soccer career.

For her overall experience playing with the program, she said it was so much fun. Johnson wrote, “All the coaches and players I have been with were truly amazing. I met some of the most extraordinary, funniest, and sweetest girls playing Seneca Soccer. I created such tight bonds with them since you are practically with them everyday for multiple hours. There will always be a special place in my heart for Seneca Soccer.”

When asked what Abbey was going to miss the most now that the soccer season is over, she detailed that she’ll miss everyone that was involved with the program and playing the games. Johnson said, “High school games were not like any other soccer games I have played. In a good way I feel like the environment was so different compared to a club game.

Zach Klym is a determined student-athlete here at Seneca High School. Currently, he is a senior, but before coming to Seneca in the fall of 2017, he attended Indian Mills Memorial School.

Klym has been playing lacrosse for about 8-9 years now and started at a young age. Along with lacrosse, he has also been involved in soccer, basketball, and football. As for his future athletic career, he is committed to playing another four years of lacrosse at Eastern University.

Considering the fact that this past 2021 season was cut short, the team unfortunately had to miss out on the first two weeks of practices/scrimmages of the season. Not only that, but due to COVID-19 causing a global pandemic in early March of last year, his, along with others, junior season got taken away from them.

As for this year’s season, Klym and his teammates fortunately only missed a few practices, two scrimmages, and two games. Although his team had to quarantine due to COVID exposure and illness, Zach still looked on the bright side as he reflected on how, “this season was nice especially near the end when the restrictions seemed to go away slowly but surely.” Even though Klym was practically left with no junior season, he was grateful that they were actually able to play an almost full season this year.

Klym explains, “I loved [playing lacrosse and] would give anything to play again, especially with my goalie coach OG Dooley and Diorio.”

Zach’s words of advice to athletes: “Play your heart out every play because it can all go away in a second. I learned that through covid and breaking my leg. It can all disappear in an instant.”

Hailey Melvin is a determined student-athlete here at Seneca High School. Currently, she is a senior, but prior to first attending Seneca in the fall of 2017, she attended Olson Middle School.

Melvin started playing softball when she was five years old, thus she’s been playing for thirteen years. Not only does Hailey play softball for the school, but she has also played travel softball for about 10 years. Along with softball, she’s been running winter track since her freshman year but couldn’t compete during her senior season due to an injury.

For her future athletic career, Hailey will be attending West Chester University in Chester County, Pennsylvania and will be playing softball.

Unfortunately, like most sports seasons this year, the season for softball has been shortened dramatically and they can’t hold any of their fun get-togethers that they have in the past. Melvin further detailed, “We can’t have any pasta parties or parties with the team, we can’t go out to dinners after games, and we aren’t allowed to high five each other before and after our games.” 

When asked about the season’s provisions and how it’s looked thus far, she explained how it has been an abundant amount of social distancing, constantly wearing masks, and staying away from each other when possible.

As for her experience playing Seneca Softball for the past four years, Hailey has truly loved her time playing for our school. She wrote, “It’s been a huge learning experience for me and all the girls. We all have to learn and adjust, because a good portion of the girls don’t play with each other outside of school ball. But, it’s also a whole lot of fun playing with girls I’ve known since I was little. We make so many memories and I’ve made so many friendships.”

Since there have already been multiple restrictions set in place, there are obviously some aspects that the girls are missing out on. For instance, from her perspective, she said that she misses having pre-game parties at fellow teammate Chloe Trefz’s house and eating Sam’s burgers.

Hailey concluded, “I didn’t get to play this year because of my knee, however, all of the girls have made this year very special for all of the seniors. It’s hard to find the good in a year like this, but everyone is super positive and we do as much as we can. These girls have put so much work in and especially missing a season last year, they’re eager to win in playoffs.”

Joey Steff is currently a committed student-athlete here at Seneca High School. He is a senior, but prior to beginning his time at Seneca in the fall of 2017, he attended Indian Mills Memorial School.

Steff began playing baseball when he was only three years old. He also played basketball for his first two years of high school, but stopped in order to solely focus on playing baseball.

For his future athletic career, Joey is committed to playing baseball at Immaculata University and plans on playing baseball for as long as he possibly can.

Unfortunately, just like most sports during these times, the baseball season has been strongly impacted by COVID-19. For instance, the baseball program here at Seneca would usually have approximately a month of pre-season practices and preparation. Not only that, but they would also usually have around 6-7 scrimmages that don’t count, but immensely help them prepare before the official games are supposed to start. Steff added, “This year we had about 2 and a half weeks of practice time and only 2 scrimmages. It has definitely impacted how ready we will be for the regular season, but we work hard everyday to get ready for it.”

When questioned about this season’s provisions, Joey explained that, for the most part, it will mainly be the same with a few minor changes. For example, he mentioned, “More games every week due to the season being pushed back, as well as mandatory masks and social distancing when not on the field. It will take some getting used to, but we as a team want to make sure we can play as many games as possible.”

As for his experience thus far playing Seneca baseball, Steff detailed that it has definitely been a highlight of his high school years and has looked forward to it every year. More specifically, he said, “Just going out there and being able to enjoy myself and have fun playing the game I love is an amazing feeling. The atmosphere is just really enjoyable and it makes for a good time no matter what happens.”

Due to the fact that there will be many restrictions set in place in order to abide by Covid guidelines, many of the players will have to miss out on important and enjoyable aspects of seasons past. As for Joey, he detailed, “I think the thing I will miss the most because of this season’s restrictions is the in-game interactions. The emotions and the passion that everyone has is less this year because they are trying to keep the in-game interactions to a minimum.”

Even though baseball plays a major role in his life, Joey Steff is constantly trying to look on the positive side of this current situation. He concluded, “I believe that the pandemic really hit us with a major obstacle, and that if we can get past this obstacle and have a successful season, it will mean so much more to us because of the adversity we were faced with.”

Hannah Cutts is a hardworking student-athlete here at Seneca High School. She agreed to provide some insight into how COVID has impacted Seneca Volleyball. Currently, Hannah is a sophomore, but before first attending Seneca in the fall of 2019, she attended Olson Middle School in Tabernacle, New Jersey.

Cutts started playing volleyball at age 10 and has played ever since. Along with volleyball, Hannah has been playing softball since she was 8 and plans on continuing both throughout the rest of her high school career. As for college, she says she doesn't plan on continuing her athletic career beyond Seneca.

Due to COVID-19, volleyball started this winter instead of beginning in the fall as usual which eliminated the chance of having a preseason. During a regular school year, volleyball preseason begins in August. In past years, that has consisted of practicing, team bonding, and scrimmages against other high school teams. Unfortunately, this year, they didn’t get the chance to do so and lost a couple of weeks of practice leading up to the season. Luckily, they did get to play against Moorestown for a scrimmage but still missed out on the typical team bonding activities such as tie-dying shirts and holding a team talent show.

COVID restrictions have also resulted in  fewer games scheduled than there would be during a typical season. For Hannah, this is the most disappointing change. Additionally, athletes have to wear masks while competing. Despite the restrictions, Hannah says she believes it is worth it if it keeps them safe and allows them to have a volleyball season.

Since Hannah is a sophomore, she still has two years of her volleyball career to come in the future. Yet, thus far, she said that she’s loved the experience. She wrote, “Playing Seneca volleyball has allowed me to make new friends and to grow as a player and a person. Being new to high school last year as a freshman, volleyball gave me a group of people that I already knew on the first day of school.”

She added, “Playing together as a team during a game is my favorite part of volleyball. I love volleyball because it is a team sport; there is no better feeling than winning alongside your teammates.”

Finally, Hannah concluded, “Although the volleyball season looks different this year, is shorter, and [is] taking place in the winter instead of fall, I am very grateful that we have the opportunity to play despite the circumstances.”

Maddie Epps is a dedicated student-athlete here at Seneca High School. Currently, she is a junior, but before coming to Seneca in the fall of 2018, she attended Indian Mills Memorial School.

Epps started running winter track her freshman year of high school mainly to stay in shape for her lacrosse season coming up that spring. She had gym with Mrs. Vitale and discussed training to increase her speed and stamina. Afterward, Vitale told her to come out for winter track practice that day, and she's been a part of the team ever since.

Mrs. Vitale, a Physical Education/Health teacher here at Seneca, currently coaches the Girls Winter Track Team. She highly values Epps as an important asset to the team and wrote, “She’s a three-sport athlete, who brings a solid work ethic and positive attitude to our team.” Vitale continued, “Not only has she been an asset to her field hockey and lacrosse teams at Seneca, she’s made an impact on the track, as well. Maddie was an important part of our 4x400 team which made it to the NJSIAA sectional championship in 2020.”

For her future athletic career, Maddie hasn’t given much thought to pursuing track in college. This is mainly because she mainly did it to stay in shape and to improve her agility for her other sports. Yet, it’s still a possibility that she’s considering.

Unfortunately, winter track has already been delayed due to the COVID-19 regulations; normally, the season begins in December.  Additionally, this month, the coronavirus delayed practices for another two weeks. The team members had at-home workouts and plans but weren’t able to have an actual in-person practice until last week.

When asked about the season’s provisions, Epps wrote, “This year is going to be a lot more minimal in terms of who we’re competing against and what we’re competing for”. For instance, their usual location for indoor  meets now has a limit on the number of visitors, so most of their meets are now outdoors. Maddie continued by explaining, “It changes the whole season, since we have to work with a different track and different setups”. Like many student athletes, Maddie closed by expressing how it’ll take a lot more to adapt to these new and unusual circumstances while also practicing with all of the restrictions.

For her experience with winter track thus far, Maddie expressed how it was not like she expected and assumed. She wrote, “I joined to stay in shape and work for myself in terms of improving my own skills, and I ended up making it to the Meet of Champions with my relay team.” Epps stated how she never expected to be as successful as she was on a new team and to go that far with her relay.

Since there will be several restrictions set in place as well as a shortening of the season, many of the athletes will miss what would normally happen. Maddie wrote that she would mainly miss the atmosphere. She explained, “The overall atmosphere of practice where we could all be together and go through the regular season”. Not only that but she added, “The work we put in was worth the reward, and now we have less time to achieve our goals from last year”. Even though track might not be Maddie’s main sport, she cherishes the time spent with her teammates and her achievements.

Maddie concluded,  “I wanted to make this year an important training year for my senior season so that I can finish my high school season strong, especially with the restrictions and struggles we are facing as a team."

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought on many changes in our daily lives. From having to remember to pack an extra mask to how we interact with people, COVID-19 has essentially changed the way we live. Our days look different now in school and at home, and school sports are no exception. New restrictions have been placed on the sports teams to promote safety and avoid the spread of the virus. Despite the many precautions taken, many teams at different high schools have unfortunatley had their seasons end early due to players testing positive for the Coronavirus. 

Most athletes would say this season is quite different from past seasons. A lot of responsibility was put on athletes this season to stay away from large gatherings and be extra careful. One example of change this year is that many teams that typically host pasta parties and other team outings were not allowed to do so during this time. This has taken away a significant part of the social value of playing on a high school sports team as gatherings of this nature help the team to bond. While some athletes felt the impact of these restrictions, they did their best to keep their spirits high and finish their season strong. 

Seneca High School student-athlete, Jessica Pronchick, for example, felt the pandemic did not affect her athletic performance and said she was still able to get the most out of her season. However, as most would likely agree, she missed being able to have a normal season as hers was less packed than a typical year would be. Pronchick said, “I am just grateful that we got to have a season.”

Ms. Foster, the Varsity Head Coach of Field Hockey, said what she missed most was the lack of team outings/events due to COVID-19 restrictions. She stated, “The culture we started for the last two seasons was difficult to maintain this season. We are used to spending a lot of time together during the season, but COVID created a barrier that didn't allow us to do that.” In previous years, the team had countless pasta parties among other activities which were greatly missed this year. Additionally, they had new restrictions including wearing masks when not engaged in physical activity, maintaining social distancing, and spraying sticks with sanitizing spray. Field hockey scheduling wasn’t greatly affected by the pandemic for varsity; however, the freshman team, unfortunately, had one game canceled due to COVID-19 cases at the opponent’s school.

As fall sports are coming to an end, many teams are currently in post-season and starting their playoffs. Soon, winter sports will be starting and they will too look very different from previous years. Governor Phil Murphy has announced some new restrictions for winter sports including wearing masks and limiting spectators. For indoor sports, there is a ten-person limit that can only be exceeded by those necessary for competition. For outdoor sports, there is a 150 person limit that includes athletes, coaches, officials, and spectators. This season is going to look unusual for all teams, but surely our athletes are happy that they are currently permitted to start their seasons soon.

Nikki Mejia-Ranno is a student-athlete here at Seneca High School in Tabernacle, New Jersey. As of right now, she is a sophomore, but before attending Seneca, she went to Southampton Middle School. Also, prior to being a part of the JV Girls Swim Team, Nikki has been swimming since the age of five and began participating on a team when she was nine years old.

Due to the current worldwide pandemic, many sports, activities, and events have been either canceled or postponed. For instance, Nikki unfortunately missed out on her summer swim season. She wrote, “I was really looking forward to the season because I was gaining confidence in myself and I was more comfortable with the team”. Just like many of us student-athletes, Nikki would some times dread going to practice, but still had lots of fun. Not only that, but since the sport plays a large role in her life, this type of cancelation was probably devastating.

Besides from the Seneca Girls Swim Team, she is part of another team that takes place in the summer. The name of this group is the Deerwood Tritons, but as mentioned earlier, the summer season was canceled due to the coronavirus.

For the swimming season this upcoming winter, there hasn’t been much information released to the members. For instance, she has no idea what practices or meets will look like. She believes that there could possibly be a minimal amount of people allowed in the pool at once or certain people go to practice on specific days. However, Nikki recently found out that the season will take place. It will be starting after November and ending in early February.

Since Nikki is only in the tenth grade, she hasn’t had that much time being part of the team. Yet, she was still able to enjoy last season. For example, with her team last year, she explained that she had loads of fun and met some great people and had nice experiences at practices and meets. Nikki detailed, “The meets were the most entertaining part, it was the first time I’ve been to a meet that was an hour long. Usually for my other team, it would either take up half or all of the day. With that and the extremely close races made an exciting season”.

When asked about what Nikki will miss most, assuming that there will be countless restrictions set in place, she noted, “I am definitely going to miss being in the same lane as most of my friends, assuming we will still have to social distance”.

For her future, she explained that she plans to swim all throughout high school. Yet, Nikki is unsure of what she is going to do after secondary education, such as if she’ll keep up with swimming or not.