Since August, Middle school students have participated in a wide range of sports and athletics. These students have participated in many practices, games, and tournaments, putting in many hours of hard work.
During the fall, students can take part in football, girls and boys volleyball, field hockey, and cross country. Winter offers; boys and girls basketball, Boys and girls soccer and swimming. Year-round sports include dance and fitness.
Here is a look into each sport throughout the Fall and Winter seasons.
Volleyball:
Kyle Goodman
The green and gold Middle School Volleyball teams had a very successful season. The 7th grade green team got a feel for middle school sports and the game. While the seasoned 8th grade gold team completed an undefeated season.
The gold team coached by Coach Feather was “very chill and always encouraging” according to gold team player Oliver Huang.
According to team members, the reason this team was so successful was because of their team chemistry.
“We have played together before, on this team and other club teams,” said Oliver Huang.
There closest competition, St. Marks, was their biggest challenge all year.
“Always a close game, but we took care of business quickly,” said team member Emmett Considine.
These Middle school Volleyball players have a bright future in the upper school and an encouraging group of 8th graders next year.
Soccer:
Kyle Goodman
The gold Middle School Soccer team started off with a “bang”, defeating Prestonwood 4-0.
“The 7th graders got a feel for how it is in soccer and Middle school athletics,” said Andrew Sharma about the team’s performance.
Gold team coach Thomas Boyle has been described as very passionate about soccer and a player developer.
On the other hand, the green soccer team lost their first game but “the team is fun and we bond well,” said green team center-mid, Dean Greenstein said about the team.
The team has high expectations for themselves and believes that they will overcome the challenges of the teams that remain. Players and coaches claim the teams have skill and passion, which is the recipe for a successful squad.
Swimming:
Trenton Chou
This year, the swim team has 28 members. Sanjith Bogullu is one of them.
“It’s pretty good,” Bogullu said. “My strengths are freestyle fly, breaststroke, and backstroke.”
Like Bogullu, many other members of the team also have a lot of experience. Bogullu has been swimming since he was two years old.
“They put me in lane 2,” Bogullu said.
As for the competition, the swim team has meets every Wednesday.
The swim team have upcoming meet against the Hockaday School, St. Marks, Parish Episcopal School, Southwestern Christian School.
Cross Country
Noah Stinchcomb
This year in Middle School Cross Country was a successful one according to Coach David Henderson.
“There were so many athletes that bought into the program as a whole and the great athletes not only played their part but added to the team chemistry.”
The team competed in many meets at The Hockaday School and were faced with a new challenge from South Dallas schools which brought an infusion of athleticism to the event.
“They presented a new challenge with some great athletes and a lot of basketball players,” Henderson said. He said he was very proud of how all the runners from Greenhill had performed though this newfound adversity.
At the beginning of the season Henderson challenged the team to overcome the heat and make sure that everyone was able to keep their body and mind in the best condition.
Henderson stated that his proudest moment was during the last meet where almost all the runners reached that goal and cut down their 2-mile times.
Overall Sanju Bogullu described the season as “a chance to take risks and really strive to achieve our best time also you can spend time with your friends.”
Girls Soccer
Tallis Fletcher
The girls’ soccer season started on November 18th, with about twenty people on the green team and eighteen people on the gold team. The gold team is scheduled to play a total of 14 games this season with schools such as Prestonwood, Hockaday, etc.
Alan Sandler, the coach of the Gold Team, said, “All schools are tough, but Hockaday is the biggest competition.”
The gold team had a rough start, losing their two first games, but they recently won against Parish 6-0.
“I think that we’ll win more games than we lose,” said Sara Mishra on the gold team.
The girls on both teams say they hope to improve on things like defense and shooting, as well as things like being a better teammate. Coach Alan Sandler said he believes that consistently trying to improve is very important throughout the season.
“What I want from the biggening of the season to the end of the seasons is that we improve,” said Sandler.
Even though they’ve just met them, the students say they are starting to get to know the coaches better.
“The coaches watch you and tell you exactly what you need to improve on,” said Chamarthy. “And whenever we’re working on specific skills, if they notice that you are struggling, they’ll stop you for a second and show you exactly how to do it and make sure that you understand it.”
Football
Sanjith Bogullu
“Since my first year here, the goal is to get better each year first, get better every day and each week, each month, and then every year, it’s natural progression,” said, Coach K.J Williams, the head coach of Football for Greenhill.
The Middle school football team which consists of 7th and 8th graders has had a winning season this year. The football team has won 7 games and lost 3 games
Players said the middle school football team learned to be unselfish, trust one another, and be physical. The middle school football program is anticipating the 36 sixth graders who played flag football this year, to age into their program.
Kyle Goodman, one of the 29 players on the football team said, “this year we played way more games and it was a better season overall than last year.”
When Kyle and his team said when they win a game, they usually do hornet-jacks and celebrate on the field, but if they lost, they would practice and review what they did wrong.
“Football will get the right grit out of you,” said Williams. “It will bring you down to your weakest moments but also have some of your greatest moments within seconds of one another. So, I think it’s a good pusher for core values, especially if you’re a young kid looking for some confidence.”
According to the players and coaches, if you want to play hard, work hard, and trust each other, then football is the sport for you.
Field Hockey:
Ella Junod
“Although our season started roughly, we definitely progressed as time went on,” said 7th grader Sara Mishra.
Players believe that throughout the field hockey season the team progressed and showed more potential.
“They got better as we continued; they got more comfortable, they started trusting,” said Steve Warner the green team coach.
Warner believes the key to working as a team is the continuous practice of the sport.
“We bonded over the love of field hockey and wanting to improve,” said 7th grader Kiera Shea who played for the gold team.
The team claims to have had an unbreakable friendship that really showed on the field and during practices.
“We grew closer as the days progressed and I feel like after that season next year will never be the same without my team,” said 7th grade Sivan Hahn past field hockey player.
Girls Basketball:
Tallis Fletcher
The basketball team is off to a strong start this season.
The green team won 22-5 against ESD and recently won against Oakridge 48-4. So far in the season they have won two games and lost one against a homeschool team.
The basketball team says they have worked hard on skills as a team. They worked on skills such as passing, dribbling, and shooting and have already started refining the plays that they have learned.
“We have made a strong connection on the court,” said seventh grader Hannah Beckman who is on the green team.
As well as becoming more proficient in skills, the girls say they have also gotten closer to each other while practicing and playing basketball together.
Beckman has high hopes for this season and believes the team will do nothing but improve.
“I think we are just going to keep getting better and make great improvement by the end of the season,” said Beckman, “I can’t wait to see how this season plays out”
Girls Volleyball
Ella Junod
Both volleyball teams had successful seasons this year.
The green team had three losses and eleven wins.
“We played Legacy Christian at the begging of the season when were still struggling as a team and lost,” said 7th grader Alia Gaitonde. “After a season of growth, we played them again and won.”
The green team said they had made immense progress that was visible throughout their season.
“Most of us were already friends but playing a sport we all enjoyed brought us even closer,” said Gaitonde.
Even after the season ended, the team stayed friends, “I am sad to let the team go, next year won’t be the same,” said Gaitonde.
The team said they bonded immensely and is not able to imagine next year’s season.
“The hardest part was getting to know everybody’s strength and weaknesses but as we progressed and grew closer as a team we started to understand each other better,” said 7th grader Noah Kidd.
Basketball
Cam Dawson
One of the sports offered during the winter season is basketball. There are 2 teams: green (which is all 7th grade) and gold (which is all 8th grade).
The coach for the 8th grade team is Coach Burgess. According to Gold team player Noah Stinchcomb, “we are aiming to be more successful and win more games this season.”
After slow starts too the seasons, both teams are now winning games and say they are on a path to success.
