Sports have always been a defining aspect of American culture, and they are a huge part of our daily lives. Although everyone is encouraged to try different sports at Seabury, where the passion for sports is especially strong, certain sports are considered underrated among the student body.
As one of the most popular individual sports in America, tennis is surprisingly under-appreciated according to many students. Senior Zephyr O’Hara, who plans to play tennis in the spring, says, “I think tennis should be more popular because it takes a lot of hard work, you have to be in great shape to be able to play tennis, and I just think it should be more popularized.”
Seventh grader Nico Stinson shares his sentiment: “Tennis could be more popular in schools,” he says, also explaining the cause of the sport’s unpopularity: “It’s kind of obscure out of the top sports, it’s not very out there,” he says.
This also applies to other similar sports. Freshman Henry Kimuri thinks that “ping pong is really cool. There’s [a lot of] really fun sports [in that vein], like ping pong, [and] badminton too; badminton is a lot of fun.” Kimuri is definitely a passionate ping pong lover: “I have a ping pong table at home, so I do like to play those sports. And during the Olympics, [I like to watch] ping pong,” he adds.
The Olympics is a great way to explore other sports. Faculty member Lawrence Meier shares that he “really enjoy[s] watching fencing, as well as curling; [it] is a sport that I think is pretty fun to watch during Olympic times, along with track and field.” He also thinks “lacrosse is always entertaining, though it’s hard to find a game here sometimes to watch.”
Likewise, when asked about what the most underrated sport is, sophomore Santino Barbarena says, “Gotta give it to the lacrosse players. Lacrosse is a hard sport, [but] I don’t feel like it gets as much credit.” Regarding sports in schools, he mentions “high school boys’ volleyball and girls’ basketball.”
Similarly, sixth grader Claire Peterson believes that volleyball should be more popular. “A lot of people, in the real world [and college], go to football games instead of volleyball games,” she says. However, she also points out volleyball’s popularity in our community among the players: “[Volleyball] clubs are good. I actually play for a club, and the tournaments are huge, and a lot of people play.”
As for schools, many students hope to see a bigger variety of sports included. Eighth grader Sophie Borroto-Novick says, “Not everyone plays the same sport, and everyone likes different things.”
Likewise, Meier agrees with this opinion, but he also points out the importance of support. “Make sure to sponsor what people want the most and whatever there’s an interest for, but [it’s important to] support it. I love the fact that we’re having that archery club because, as someone who grew up getting to shoot stuff at a summer camp with bows, it’s really fun,” he says.
Similarly, Stinson really appreciates the support and effort Seabury puts into its sports programs. “I think we should have more focus on lesser-known sports, but also if we have a really good basketball and volleyball team here, I think we should definitely focus on that as well,” he says.
Finally, students discuss what draws people to sports. Barbarena says, “The nature of competition is great, and being athletic makes it better.”
Stinson highlights the aspect of sportsmanship, saying that “[There are] a lot of the morals you learn from sports, like teamwork and problem solving, could draw people to sports, but also that they’re fun, and they’re easy to learn a lot of the time.”
Meier points out the significance of sports in community building, saying, “[The] social aspect [was] what drew me to cross country in high school first before I really enjoyed running. I was just getting a chance to run and talk with my friends at first and before realizing, ‘ah, darn it; I like it.’”
