As the temperature drops and the days start to shorten, anticipation builds for the upcoming season of winter sports. Winter sports teams at Fieldston include basketball, ice hockey, swimming, squash, indoor track, table tennis and cheerleading. Athletes Lily Saal (IV) on basketball, Griff Bracchitta (VI) on ice hockey, Hazel Baldwin (IV) on swimming, Will Peterson (VI) on squash, Sophie Basner (V) on indoor track and Rachel Shames (IV) on table tennis were interviewed about this upcoming winter season.
Jolie Raftery: What are you most looking forward to this season?
Lily Saal: “I’m most looking forward to being part of the [basketball] team. We’ve got a couple of great people and coaches, and I’m just looking forward to the team environment.”
Griff Bracchitta: “I think we’re going to have a really strong team. We’ve developed a lot of our players from last year, so we’re going to be a much stronger team with better puck skills. I’m excited to beat Riverdale, beat Poly, and destroy Columbia, because they’re going to be very weak this year.”
Hazel Baldwin: “I’m looking forward to getting back with my team again, coming together as a group, and getting back into the swim season.”
Will Peterson: “I am very curious to see the incoming freshman and gauge their skill levels. We had a lot of seniors that had a big presence last year, so with them gone there’s kind of a big gap to fill.”
Sophie Basner: “Winter track last year was my favorite season, so I am looking forward to it again because the team gets smaller which allows for everyone to get really close. My favorite thing is that it gets dark really early, and also that because there are less people, the coaches can focus on you more. You discover your strengths since it is straight out of cross country and there are more options of distances and more depth in what you can do.”
Rachel Shames: “Definitely being reunited with my team again. Table tennis was really fun last year, and as a sophomore now I am really excited to come back and welcome in the new freshmen.”
Jolie Raftery: How are you transitioning from your fall sport into your winter sport?
Lily Saal: “The conditioning in field hockey and basketball is pretty similar, and playing midfield in field hockey gets you into really good shape. Obviously there is some rust, so working on the more technical aspects is always a hard transition. I just always take as many shots as possible.”
Hazel Baldwin: “My other sport, diving, is also an in-the-pool sport, so it’s not that much of a transition, but I will start getting to bed earlier and preparing mentally.”
Sophie Basner: “I feel like it’s such a weird transition because we do the 2.5 mile race in cross country, but I do the mile in winter track, so I never know where I stand at the beginning of the season. The workouts also get more intense because there are less people.”
Rachel Shames: “Table tennis is more low-commitment than soccer, so the transition is easy, and I think winter sports will be very fun.”
Jolie Raftery: How are winter sports unique?
Lily Saal: “The fall sports are at the beginning of the school year when everyone’s settling in, but winter is when everyone has kind of figured it out. Winter fest is always fun, and it’s kind of a good midpoint of the year. Winter sports are a good way to stay warm, and stay in shape, even when it’s cold out.”
Griff Braccitta: “You’re playing a sport in the cold, which is different from a lot of other sports. Hockey is played on a rink, and you’re skating, which is different from every other sport that’s played in the school.”
Hazel Baldwin: “This may be unique to swimming, but after practice you have to walk to the buses while it’s super cold out and sometimes your hair freezes. It’s pretty fun though.”
Will Peterson: “I think they’re a lot less social; there’s not a party culture around winter sports. They’re smaller groups of people who bond through activities, but there’s not a big group dynamic.”
Sophie Basner: “I would say winter sports are unique because it’s during this weird time where you’ve gotten into the groove of school but not its finals yet, so not that stressful of a time. I think it may be the best season to manage work. Everything is inside, so that’s an interesting spin on things. I remember last year with COVID we had to run with masks inside, which made it really hard.”
Jolie Raftery: What is the biggest game of the winter season?
Lily Saal: “Winterfest is definitely a big game; I always look forward to that one and the big crowd. Dalton is probably our biggest rival in basketball. They have a good team and last year they smoked us, so it’s always fun to play them and see what really good basketball looks like. Hopefully we’ll overcome that challenge this year.”
Griff Bracchitta: “The Poly game, easily.”
Hazel Baldwin: “They’re all pretty big, but I would say at the end of the season, either Ivy Finals or NYSAIS.”
Sophie Basner: “I think that the first meet is kind of scary because I don’t know where I stand or how fast I can run or how it will feel. But also Ivy Finals and NYSAIS are a really big deal.”
Rachel Shames: “Definitely Horace Mann.”
Jolie Raftery: Do you have any funny stories from last year’s season?
Lily Saal: “One time before practice, I had just gotten a good grade on a test, and I was so excited to get to basketball practice. As I stood up from tying my shoes in the locker room, I bashed my head on my locker door. My head started bleeding, but I still went to practice and everyone took it easy on me. I was made fun of the whole time for getting hurt before basketball, but I ended up having a great practice anyway and it was one of my favorites.”
Griff Bracchitta: “Me and this one kid Andrew Vidrevich hated each other, so we would go back and forth and I would knock him over on the ice. In one of our practices, I checked him and he fell and lost his s**t and it was not very good. So that was kind of funny.”
Hazel Baldwin: “Last year during one of our practices, two of our coaches raced each other, which was really fun to watch.”
Will Peterson: “There was a match between one of the equipment managers last year, Ben Shulman, and one of the seniors who was on the team. Ben Shulman had never picked up a squash racket before in his life, but he still won, which goes to show that anyone can be good.”
Sophie Basner: “There was a boys relay race and for some reason Jaylin didn’t have the right pants, so after Owen finished running, he took off his pants and gave them to Jaylin in the middle of the race. Fully in their underwear, they switched pants. And then they ended up getting disqualified for being in the wrong lane or something.”
Jolie Raftery: Why did you choose your sport?
Lily Saal: “I played basketball when I was five, and quit around twelve, and then I got back into it during the spring of eighth grade as a way to play sports again. I went back to my old team, and I rediscovered a love for it. Going into Fieldston, I saw there was a great program, so I figured, why not pick it up again, and I learned that I love it a lot.”
Griff Bracchitta: “I’ve played ice hockey my whole life, so at the beginning it wasn’t really a choice, I was just skating because my parents wanted me to. Then I wanted to play hockey on my own, so I picked it up and I played for seven or eight years. I dropped it in freshman year but then I came back in junior year.”
Hazel Baldwin: “I chose swimming because I like to be in the water and I wanted to make new friends.”
Will Peterson: “I’ve played with my dad before, and it’s fun but not super competitive. I treat squash as an activity and a way to exercise more than a competitive sport.”
Sophie Basner: “I used to do soccer, but I wasn’t good at it, so I decided to do track even though I didn’t really know anyone who ran. When I joined cross country last year, I realized my capability and how you can be a good runner, but also how you can be a devoted runner, and how there’s such a big difference between those. Running is one of the best things that happened to me because I met some of my best friends. Being close with the team is so special, especially when it’s three seasons long.”
Rachel Shames: “Low commitment, a lot of fun, gym credit, and I want to be part of a team.”
Jolie Raftery: What would you say to people who think running is not an actual sport?
Sophie Basner: “People say running isn’t a real sport and that it’s their sports’ punishment, which is probably true, but running is one of the hardest sports at Fieldston. When people say running isn’t a sport, maybe they say that because there’s a stigma that runners are weak, or scrawny, or weird. The way we train and the amount of effort we put into each workout, and the amount of mental energy and endurance that you need is pretty crazy. To put it simply, track is so hard.”
Jolie Raftery: Do you think table tennis is a real sport?
Rachel Shames: “Table tennis is in the Olympics, so it counts, but it’s definitely less exhausting than other sports.”
Jolie Raftery: As a senior, how do you feel about this winter season as your last?
Griff Bracchitta: “I’m devastated. It’s so sad because I love the sport so much, I love playing on the team, and I love the guys on the team. It’s a unique experience, high school hockey in New York City.”
Will Peterson: “Last year was my first, and it was a great experience. The seniors led the dynamic and they brought a lot of energy. This year, I will try to do what they did and bring the team together, so that the people who take over next year know how to lead the team.”
Altogether, Fieldston students are looking forward to an exciting winter sports season. The first games begin in late November and early December.
