With Central Valley’s hockey season coming to an end, Freedom freshman Noah Fessides and sophomores Chase Grable and Aiden Pournaras recap this year’s season. With the team consisting of players from five different schools, the boys get a feel for working with people from different schools.

“One way I think it affects how we play together is we all can’t talk in school. It’s a lot harder to build a bond with them because you don’t see them every day,” Fessides said.

Being a part of a team with players from four other schools can have its ups and downs. Meeting new people from different schools can be a positive outlook. As Fessides had said, not seeing them throughout the hallways at school five days a week can affect the way the players bond with each other. It can essentially be harder at some points to reach out and try to communicate with someone if they are not seeing them in person every day. Working together as a team can overall help them push through that slight inconvenience.

“I don’t think we had a very great season. We definitely could have performed much better,” Pournaras said.

With their current record being 0-16, the boys hope for a good outcome in their final game against Neshannock on Feb. 28. Knowing how they did with this season, they can use that to their advantage when preparing for the next season. The players can take the footage they may have from this year’s games and reflect on what worked and what did not.

“We are preparing for next season by working hard throughout the offseason to get some things together. We also have some kids coming up from the middle school who will definitely help improve our team,” Pournaras said.

Working throughout their offseason can help improve what may have been something that had not been doing well throughout the season. It can overall improve their stamina and how well they play the game. Working in their offseason can give them time to focus on getting better and preparing for the season as a whole, rather than preparing for their nearest game.

The boys will continue to work hard throughout the rest of their season, their offseason and the start of the next season for hopes of a better outcome in terms of their team’s record. Seeing what they did both right and wrong can help them prepare for successful games in the future. Having a poor record for their current season can help motivate the players to push and strive for a better record for the next season.