Athletes prove that age is just a number
October 30, 2014
In today’s issue of The Roar, we profiled two sophomore athletes who made varsity teams as freshmen. Here we profile two seniors who have also been on varsity teams since their freshman year.
Shannon Peterson
Sitting in front of the television with her family watching a baseball game, a young Shannon Peterson’s interest in America’s game grew. She never expected, however, to play for SCHS’s varsity softball team during her first three years of high school.
At the age of five, Peterson’s father had enrolled her in a tee-ball team through the local Police Activities League (PAL). She absentmindedly went along with it at first, but ended up thoroughly enjoying her experience.
Soon after, Peterson began to play for a competitive softball team and her love for the game only grew.
Her freshman year at SCHS, Peterson made the varsity softball team. She remembers being very nervous. “As a freshman, you’re playing with seniors, so it’s scary,” Peterson said.
However, she ultimately found the confidence she needed to be successful.
“I just had to prove to myself that I deserved to be on the team. I had the skill level, so they soon respected me as a player,” Peterson said.
On top of playing for the school team, Peterson also became a member of the San Jose based team The Lady Sharks.
Peterson said she never expected to get so far in her softball career. However, her love of the game has kept her sticking with it for over ten years.
“I love everything about it, especially the competitiveness,” Peterson said.
Joe Park
In the spring of his freshman year, Joe Park came to SCHS’s badminton team tryouts no prior experience playing on any sports team. With his preconceived image of the sport, he expected badminton to be fairly simple.
It wasn’t.
“I thought it was a really easy sport in the beginning, but when I got into the game, I realized that it’s really competitive,” said Park.
However, the added pressure of the game only made Park enjoy badminton more. Park went on to play for the varsity team during his first three years of high school. However, he admits that the delight of being on the varsity level has faded slightly.
“I was excited being on varsity earlier on in high school, but now I’m kind of used to it,” said Park.
Despite this, the competitiveness of badminton keeps him coming back to the sport he has come to love. Park has also formed a strong bond with other players on his team.
“Our whole team has around 60 people, and we train so much together- we are a family,” said Park.