Determination. Motivation. Positivity. The boys golf team has shown all of these throughout their season this fall.

The team has had to jump numerous hurdles since their last season, before the COVID-19 pandemic. With many COVID-19 restrictions in place last year, one of the effects was that the playoffs for the state championships were cancelled. This year, the golf team had a successful season and qualified for the chance to win state championships.

Captain and senior Josh Lee said that the season feeling “normal” again has benefitted the players.

“This year, because we’re starting to get back to normal, a lot of the players have once again taken this season more seriously. Not only do we have more practices and more matches, but the overall spirit of the players has gotten much better,” Lee said.

With last year’s crazy season, captain and senior Griffin Lev said it was harder for players to get themselves in the proper mindset.

“We’ve had a great rebound year; it was a tough year for all of us last year. And, you know, the team has really come together this year under head coach Skvirsky’s guidance,” Lev said.

According to Lev, the mix of grades has helped to diversify the team and has provided opportunities for leadership. He said that he and Lee did a great job organizing team bonding this year.

“I felt that Josh and I did a really good job making sure that the team does stuff such as going out to team dinners and mixing up lineups so that everyone’s playing with everyone else,” Lev said.

Head coach Burt Skvirsky said that he is happy that the captains themselves have played their part as leaders of the team.

“The captains really showed some great leadership and they acted as a kind of conduit between me and the kids. The captains gave the players messages about what was going on the next day and made sure everybody was there and ready,” Skvirsky said.

As a result of the cooperation within the team, Skvirsky said the team was able to qualify for states this year which has gotten everyone extremely motivated.

“We qualified very early, and to qualify you have to win 50 percent of the matches. We did that fairly early, and I think we were the first team of all the teams to qualify, so that was a nice feeling. We didn’t just end after that,” Skvirsky said. “Everyone was trying to do the best they could. We tried different matchups with different kids, which worked well.”

Lev said that the team members supported each other through their losses, making for a stronger relationship.

“I think that the best way everyone supported each other was by having each other’s back. Golf is mainly an individual sport, but in this circumstance we’re a team, so we want to make sure that everyone is bonding and that everyone’s got each other’s back,” Lev said.

Lee said that the seniors have all been playing together for a long time which has led everyone to feel closer to each other, helping their play on the course.

Lev said that, because the regular season is over, the six that have qualified for states are now focusing on the end of the season and representing the team at their final match this year, the sectionals.

“The six that are going to sectionals next week, including myself, we’re focused on doing well.” Lev said. “We’re focused on representing the high school and trying the best that we can.”