Emotions are heavy. Over a plethora of potluck food, coach and senior speeches, slideshows and videos filled with memorable moments, sports teams gather for a final time: their team banquet.
At the end of each season, teams gather one last time to celebrate their achievements. Each team’s banquet is unique in some way: some teams invite the entire program and some only invite the varsity team. End-of-season banquets celebrate both whole-team and individual successes and honor the graduating seniors.
This season, the girls varsity field hockey team broke the record for most goals scored in one season. Senior and captain Charlotte Toole said there was much to celebrate at the banquet regarding their athletic success.
“[Coach] does a really good job making sure we appreciate everything we did accomplish during this season,” Toole said.
Senior Jason Ribatt said the boys varsity soccer team (BVS) had much to celebrate in terms of their gameplay, as the team had a much stronger season this year than last year.
“Coming back this year and having a great year was something that we really celebrated. It felt like a turnaround year for the program,” Ribatt said.
With the close of the season, Ribatt said he enjoyed his time on BVS, with the strong community of the team being a key point.
“Every time someone scored, everyone, we all went to the corner, we all hugged each other,” Ribatt said.
In addition to their athletic success, coach Mike Glennon said the boys varsity cross country team celebrated friendships and the strong community they built throughout the season.
“Ultimately, there are trophies or medals,” Glennon said. “But the true accomplishment of a season really comes from inside of everybody, from the effort that they put into it and the bonds that they built with each other.”
Senior and girls varsity field hockey captain Fiona Keegan-McGlinn said that the team banquet not only celebrated their historic season but focused attention on their community.
“We do a slideshow with all the photos people just compiled together, and I think our team grew really close this year,” Keegan-McGlinn said.
With the many areas to celebrate with the close of the season came areas of sadness, especially for seniors. Keegan-McGlinn said the field hockey banquet was sad, as it marked letting go of the sport and team.
“As captains, we had to write speeches, and I cried. I think field hockey has been such a big part of my life through high school. It’s really defined my experience in high school,” Keegan-McGlinn said.
Even though he will still coach many of the seniors during the track and field season, Glennon said the culmination of the cross country season was especially hard, as it was in the cross country season that they won MIAA Division I State Championships.
“This whole group of seniors, who were on the varsity team and were part of the championship team, have been very good for a very long time. They were the core group that led us to a division championship as sophomores then a runner-up finish at the Allstate meet and then the back-to-back Allstate Championship. They’re a very talented group. They work very hard,” Glennon said.
After playing mostly together for 12 years, Ribatt said the BVS seniors closed the season with strong emotions. He said being at his final banquet and receiving speeches from underclassmen was a surreal experience.
“I feel like I have another season to play. I don’t want to believe that it’s over; it’s been such a good experience. It’s definitely sad. All of the seniors cried after the game,” Ribatt said. “It’s mostly sad, but it’s also really exciting because it was a good year, and I’m proud of what happened, but it’s sad that it’s over.”
