When you first join a sports team, it’s scary. You’re around a ton of unfamiliar faces who already seem to be like a family. Right away, there’s always a group of kids who pull everyone together to make one team – the Seniors.

The role of the Seniors is an unspoken, but important one on a sports team. Seniors have to be role models and leaders the underclassmen can look up to. Even if a Senior is not the star, the upperclassman acts as a role model. The younger athletes look up to the Seniors for help, while the coaches look to the Seniors as leaders of their team. And that’s why the Seniors are so scrutinized.

Harris Stolzenberg, reflecting as he approaches graduation next month, gave us an account of how sports changed his high school life. Throughout his four years at PC, he worked hours upon hours to be the best. As a dual sport athlete, football and lacrosse shaped Harris’ life in many different ways. He said that without sports, he wouldn’t be going to college, and he wouldn’t have met most of his closest friends. As a Senior now, many teammates look up to him for support. Harris said, “I do my best to lead by example.  I’m not the best motivational speaker, but I think my play speaks for itself.  Leading in sports definitely carries over to other life applications.  I have started a couple of projects recently, and having experience in being a leader has helped me out tremendously.”

Harris is part of this chain. It starts with one Senior passing down the torch to another. Teammates look up to their elders. Hayley Buchholz said, “When I was a Freshman, as a cheerleader, the seniors taught me so much that I didn’t know.” However, the chain starts with the coaches passing their wisdom onto their student athletes. Harris was able to receive coaching from two great coaches at Pine Crest, saying, “Coach Pletcher and Coach Shanahan have played major roles in my life.  They give you two different sides of the spectrum.  Coach Pletcher is an old school, tell-you-how-it-is coach.  You have to be disciplined in all aspects of the game.  Coach Pletcher holds you to a higher standard and expects you to be accountable.  Coach Shanahan is also a great coach but practices a different style of coaching.  He challenges you to be the best you can be by being your biggest critic.”

Leadership has to start somewhere, but it always seems to start at the top with the Senior members of the team. Their experience and wisdom drives them to be the best role models they can for everyone on and off the field. Though held to a higher standard, Seniors always live up to their role and expectations.