There comes a point in an athlete’s life where they have to say goodbye. They have to say goodbye to the thing they treasured most and the relationships they made through that sport. They have to say goodbye to the blood, sweat and tears that they poured into the sport that they have been playing for most of their lives.

Something that athletes can agree on is that saying goodbye to their team is very hard. When athletes play together long enough, they develop a bond and they create chemistry both in the game and out of it. From dancing during practice to weekend-long tournaments, these athletes share memories that will never fade; the hours that they have spent with one another will never go away. Having that family-like bond is one of the best parts about being on the team.

“Teammates provide such unique personalities that come together for practice, and something wrong is bound to happen, but in a good way,” Noah Boehm said. “However, when it came to game time, everyone still was silly and serious at the same time.”

Another thing that seniors will miss is competing. It is that constant adrenaline and determination that an athlete falls in love with. The feeling of putting on the jersey or uniform gives most athletes a feeling like no other. Sometimes in the moment, athletes may hate how much work the sport took, they still come back the next day to do it again. It gets even more addicting when the team does well and starts winning or placing high in competitions.

“It is really fun to improve as a team and as an individual, all while getting rewarded and recognized for your hard work,” Danielle Bay said.

As seniors start to look back at their high school careers, they remember all of the fun times first. They remember the times where they were making jokes or pulling pranks on other teammates. Then come the sad moments, the moments that really show why the athlete loved the sport and why he/she did what he/she did. For most athletes, the saddest moment was the last game, competition, or match they will ever play with Antioch across their chest. Katie Sorensen’s saddest moment was saying goodbye last year to her softball teammates.

“So far, this year there has not really been any sad moments which is great, but out of my four years of playing I think the hardest moment for me was saying goodbye to our seniors last year,” Sorensen said. “They were an amazing group of girls and they really held the team together, so it was a hard goodbye.”

For Bay, her saddest moment was when her team moved on to the second day at state, which would be her last performance as a Sequoit.

“The second day at state was my last competitive performance with my team, so it was really sad thinking in that moment that this was it,” Bay said. “It was also one of the happiest moments because I had never made it to the finals and being able to accomplish that my senior year was really special.”

For Boehm, his saddest moment was after his last game because of the speeches that were shared.

“The last game when my coach gave my team the last speech [was the saddest moment],” Boehm said. “Everyone was crying, it took so much to get everyone to calm down. Then, one of our captains gave a speech and we started crying again. It was a very impactful night.”

Being a senior is a bittersweet time because it means being excited to start a new journey, but then missing what has to be left behind.

That doesn’t mean that they will not visit. When they come home on breaks, some athletes will go visit coaches at practices and be around the team they were once a part of.

“I am very excited for the next chapter of my life, and I cannot wait to see what college has to offer me,” Sorensen said. “But, on the other hand, I will miss my friends a tremendous amount and leaving my little sister and the rest of my family is something I have not come to terms with yet.”

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