Throughout all of Freedom’s fall sports there’s a very noticeable youth movement going on that’s impacting all the teams in different ways. Whether the freshmen have had a positive or negative impact on the sports team, one thing remains the same; freshmen are being used more. A look into each of the fall sports teams can show what kind of roles the freshmen are playing on the teams.

This “sudden burst” of youth is surely being felt by the boy’s soccer team. This teams total of three seniors more than reinforces this fact. Captain Nathan Lewis cited the fact that Freedom “is a very young school.” While this is true, the boy’s soccer team, as well as the other teams, shouldn’t see this as a limitation moving forward but rather an opportunity.

Starting four freshmen is definitely a way of showcasing off your youth. This is exactly what the girl’s soccer team is doing with their freshmen. “It feels really good to be starting as a freshman,” Freshman Taylor Petroff said. “I believe we are making an impact on the team by the midfield getting to every ball and beating everybody.”

By returning a majority of last year’s core starters the football team has made it a tough job for freshmen to get on the field. However some of them are still managing to do it. “I have been putting out my best effort so far this season although it doesn’t always work out,” Freshman Kyle Borgman “I am very optimistic going forward this season” because if you are going in there thinking you are going to lose you aren’t going to win.” Borgman’s “can do attitude” and big play as a freshman has the potential to spark much more optimism throughout the program.

When you are a small team often looks to freshmen more than any other team. This is especially true for the golf team. Even throughout the golf team Freshmen are adding in a helping hand. “I feel like he still has some work to do like all the golfers but we have used his score before and he has some contributions to still make for us,” Golf Coach Aaron Fitzpatrick said. With the varsity team already using some of Ethan’s scores in matches this year it will be interesting to see how he impacts the team going forward.

Even when the freshmen aren’t making it onto the court they are still making a difference on the volleyball team.“The freshmen girls have been very supportive of us and push us very hard in practice,” Senior Amanda Fischer said. Although the freshmen haven’t have a direct impact on the court for the team, it seems as though their work ethic in practice has pushed the varsity to become better.

It can be clearly seen that throughout all the sports teams that freshmen are contributing to all the teams. No matter what game you are watching you are sure to see freshmen taking advantage of their opportunities.