Athletics Feb 2019

College Signing Day

As of March 5, 2019, we are incredible proud to say that 19 RHS student athletes have committed to play intercollegiate athletics. The value of athletics goes far beyond winning and losing or individual accolades. To illustrate the intrinsic value of athletics, below is a speech that was delivered at our Winter Sports Award Night from one of our student-athletes who will be continuing her track career at Dartmouth:

Participating in a sport at Ramsey High School is a truly an experience like no other. The pride in being a Ram is a feeling unmatched. This amazing experience is the not only a byproduct of the student athletes that play and practice everyday and the coaching staffs at RHS that dedicate countless hours to their respective teams and players, but to other unsung heroes as well. The success of Ramsey athletics is also due to the staff in this building, our athletic director, the parents of Ramsey Student athletes, and of course the amazing student body who all perpetually support and respect the athletic programs Ramsey has to offer. As an athlete at Ramsey, it is easy to take for granted the extents in which these support systems would go to ensure your team’s success, So I would like to say thank you to all these people for cheering me on and for making my participation in RHS athletics so special!

As a senior, people always ask you what it was like to participate in your respective sport for 4 long years. It’s kind of a hard question to answer. What do you tell them about? The good times when you all laughed over a picture posted on twitter? The time you came so close to winning, but fell short? The time when you felt like you couldn’t go on, but you ran that last set? As I was recently thinking about this question, I found a note I had written to myself as a freshman the night before my first indoor track practice.

It read:

“Dear My Senior year-self,

I hope this note reaches you well after a great 4 years! I’m packing my bag tonight because Indoor track starts tomorrow. I could not be any more nervous. I’m really starting to question why I chose to run everyday after school… I hope practice is fun. I hope the coaches are nice. I hope I get the chance to jump. Even though I’m mostly nervous, I’m also super excited!! Its my first sport experience at RHS and I can literally not wait! I hope when you get this note, it was all worth it in the end...

Thanks and enjoy it,

Emma”

Writing this note 3 years ago I never could have imagined the opportunities I would have as a winter student athlete at Ramsey High School.

As I was re-reading this letter, i was again faced with the issue of reflecting on my past 4 years, but this time for myself, so I began to wonder how I would respond as a senior entering her last indoor track competition this coming weekend,

I guess I would first begin by warning my freshman self of all the sacrifices dedicating 4 years of her life to this sport would mean for her.

Indoor track means no fun beach vacations during winter break or over president's day weekend. It means practice everyday after school, no matter the long day you have had. It means running down that last straight of the 4x400 no matter how much your legs hurt. It means staying at meets late on school nights and weekends. It means traveling up to 2 hours away just to compete. It means running repeat 500s, it means 3 mile recovery runs when you feel so sore you can barely walk up the stairs to get to first period.

I mean I could go on and on about all the things I had to give up, all the challenges I faced, but in reality, when I really look back, these are not the things that defined my indoor track career.

So I would follow up in my response by commenting on what all those sacrifices lead up to. I would remember to say to myself that for every 500 I would run, every hour spent at a meet, there was a greater purpose. Everything I quote on quote gave up did not matter anymore when the girls indoor track team won Bergen county relays for the 5th straight year, when the boys team won too, when we were competing for the sectional title. Why go to the beach, when you could spend a night in Collegeville PA with your teammates going out to dinner and playing arcade games. The long bus rides did not seem to affect you when you were laughing, talking with your friends and coaches and listening to the radio. Running all day at the bubble in Toms River always seemed worth it when you could stop at Wawa after to get ice cream and quesadillas.

And how could I forget to tell myself about the relationships I would build with my team. The people stretching with me in the cafeteria would start to look less like my teammates and more like my family. We all bonded over our desire to perform well and we became a family motivated to win for each other. The coaching staff would become a staple in my life on and off the track as we shared so many happy, sad, frustrating, and exhausted moments together.

It’s true what they say, sports memories and friendships really do last forever.

After reflecting on my four years in winter/indoor track , I would also remember to thank myself for enjoying it as it lasted. I would say thank you to a younger me for sticking with it, despite how hard it may have been. Because when I read that last line that says “I hope when you get this note, it was all worth it in the end…”, I can’t help but smile. As I stand here now, I really can confidently say how worth it it really was!