Imagine a perfect recipe with all the right ingredients, cooked to perfection. What if you had to change that exact recipe every year? Sometimes the change can be beneficial, other times it can ruin the whole mix, but the outcome is almost always unpredictable.
This is what happens every year when a Carlmont sports team gets a fresh group of players. And this spring just that will happen, each team will get a new wave of players, new coaches, and possibly even a new sport altogether.
This case is true for the 2013 boys junior varsity baseball team, which has an all new coaching staff this year. Although new coaching can sometimes cause issues with chemistry throughout the team, new coach Chris Davidson seems to fit right in. Sophomore baseball player Zachary Miller commented, “I love them [the new coaches.] They are really cool guys, great coaches, and know their stuff.”
Although a new coaching staff proved to be a well accepted change for the baseball team, sometimes new contributions can set things back. The junior varsity softball team this year is loaded with many talented underclassmen, but is lacking in one crucial position- the pitcher. Sophomore softball player Mackenna Galicia commented on this issue, “We are short on pitchers. We basically have two pitchers and one is injured. Our defense really needs to be strong and support the pitcher if we want to win.”
Part of the reason why some high school sports teams don’t immediately click is because they don’t have the luxury of keeping the same core group of players with chemistry around each year, like club teams do.
Sophomore varsity lacrosse player Peter Brydon said, “Although I personally love playing with older kids, in club you play with kids your same age and move up with them. That creates better chemistry.”
Fortunately, there can be a solution to this problem. Junior varsity softball coach Brandon Robinson said, “We have a fall ball program where we allow girls from all different schools to play. That is how they segway into getting to know each other. If tryouts was the first time we saw everyone, it would be a lot harder.”
With the abundance of new additions to the recipe, how we will know if these new additions will enhance the recipe? Only time and their level of play will answer.
