The month of March is the beginning of all things spring sports. Tryouts start the week of the 10th, and from there, everything begins full blast. From the Girls’ Soccer return to the newly refurbished Hurley Field, to Softball welcoming a new coach, a lot is happening in the life of Berkley Girl’s sports. So, I decided to get an introduction to the start of each team’s season, talking to players from each and diving into their upcoming schedules.
Girls’ Soccer:
Girls’ Soccer is in a very exciting place this year, coming into a season with a total of eleven home games, a very large number compared to previous years. I chatted with my fellow captains Jessie Burns, Hailey Kirkwood, and Avery Weingarden to see how they were feeling about the start of the season.
“I’m super excited!” Senior Jessie Burns says, “I am especially happy to be back at Hurley.” She, along with the majority of the team, is very happy about the newly refurbished Hurley field, where they will be playing again this year. Last year, their home field was displaced to Ferndale due to the construction, causing practices and games to be held there.
The team has put in a lot of hard work already this preseason, with morning conditionings and preseason games which began late November. The team holds conditionings in the West Gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 6 am-7 am. Following a second-place finish in the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) White, and a 12-4-5 record overall, the team is hoping to top an exciting record from last year. “One of our goals is definitely to win our league, and be able to move up to the red next year,” Burns says, referring to the top division in the overall OAA league, which includes teams like Troy, Troy Athens, and Stoney Creek. In order to do this, they will have to earn some wins over a lot of difficult competition in the White, including strong teams like Clarkston and Lake Orion.
With a ton of intense and exciting games coming up, the team is hoping their return to Hurley will also allow for more attendance at their games. “We are expecting the pack to show up this year!” Burns notes. The boy’s soccer games were packed in the fall, and there is a lot of opportunity for the same during the spring!
The program is expecting to field three teams this season, Varsity, JVA, and JVB, which has never been done in Berkley’s history. This is both a testimony to the growth in the Berkley Girls Soccer program and to the growth in girl’s soccer in our community as a whole. Overall, it seems as if there is a lot of excitement upcoming for this season.
Softball:
Softball has also been hard at work over their preseason, with a lot of conditionings held since early December. They are looking forward to a season full of growth this year, as they welcome a new coach and many younger players. Coming off of a bit of a rough record last year, captain Brooke Schall noted that she is excited to see what the new coach has to teach and offer, and how the new players will contribute to the team’s success. “We definitely are looking to make sure we drill down our fundamentals this season,” she commented, referring to both the overall skills of the team and communication as a whole.
The softball team practices and plays home games on a community field near Anderson, where they will practice every day after school, for about two hours a day. “Our schedule is looking pretty tough,” Schall says, highlighting some tough teams like Seaholm and Notre Dame Prep. “I am looking forward to a lot of teams, especially Royal Oak,” she notes. Overall, Schall seems excited to see what this season will bring for the program!
Girls Tennis:
The girl’s tennis team is excited to hit the ground running this year. They had a great season last year, with six strong freshmen making varsity. Senior captain Lucy Cohen gave some updates for the spring explaining that “Since the start of our pre-season, we have had some meetings about tryouts at lunch with Mr. Waldman, the varsity coach. Tryouts begin March 10th, and official practices will have started by the 14th.” Cohen noted that they took six new players on the team this year, completing the roster of 14.
In order to continue building off of last year’s success, Cohen notes how important team morale is. “Everyone is really positive on the team and always cheers each other on,” she says. “Having support is one of the most important things while playing a match because it is just you and maybe one other person out on the court, so having your teammate cheer you on while they are not playing will help you stay motivated and confident.” In order to maintain this positivity, the team is looking forward to keeping up team bonding traditions, like team dinners at Crispellis, or getting slurpees after practice. In addition to keeping team positivity up, Cohen touched on her hopes for practices to be super focused this year, doing more drills that prioritize movement and energy.
The tennis team’s home games are held at the Berkley Parks and Rec. courts next to Hurly Field. JV practices are held there, though Varsity usually practices at the Huntington Woods Rec Center courts. The team usually has more away games than home, due to the limited amount of space at their home courts. Cohen highlighted her excitement for the season, pointing out tough teams like Grosse Pointe North and South and Seaholm.
Track and Field:
Track and Field has been in preparation for their season since December, with conditionings after school offered since before winter break. Junior Blessing Nweke touched on their preparation, saying “If you ever have been in the hallways after 4 pm while we were practicing, you could see a bunch of us running throughout the school.” She hopes this preparation will help everyone be ready to hit the ground running when the season starts, literally. Nweke noted that they did graduate a lot last year, but there is an abundance of freshmen coming into this season which is very exciting. Last season was a bit difficult for the team, as like Girls Soccer, their facilities were all under construction and moved to Ferndale. Nweke commented on this, saying “Not a ton of people showed up consistently, much of that due to where we were at.” She is super excited to be back at Hurley, though, and thinks the updates to the track were done very well. Nweke hopes that this season will come with a “just do it” mindset for the team, as they have a lot of potential if they all decide to work hard for what they want!
Girls Lacrosse:
Girl’s Lacrosse is coming into an exciting season as well. The team is combined with both Berkley and Royal Oak students, but they play and practice primarily at the Royal Oak field. They have a new varsity coach this year, and Berkley junior Vega Nischan commented on how she is excited to see what this change brings. She noted that as a team, they are looking to get a better record and put in a lot more work. Like the other girl’s sports, this work started much earlier in the year, with preseason practices two-three days a week, and weightlifting opportunities in between. She highlighted that last year’s season had a lot of ups and downs, but they all learned from it and are looking forward to a season of more consistency! The team is looking forward to tough and competitive teams like Livonia Stevenson and Rochester Adams.
Make sure to check out the Berkley Athletics calendar for a list of when and where these teams are playing, as well as the following instagram pages!
