Most of the students at Warren Woods Tower have participated in a sport during their years. It’s very common for a lot of freshmen to try out for sports teams. When freshmen tryout for sports, they usually make a freshmen team or, if that sport doesn’t have a freshmen team, they are put on junior varsity. It is rare to see a freshman make a varsity team but one freshman that made a varsity team was Aaliyah Carbone ‘18.
Carbone tried out for Tower’s cheer team in June 2014. Carbone was the only freshman to make the team along with a majority of upperclassmen. Even when she had to tryout a second time for competitive cheer she was still the only freshmen to make varsity. “I was very surprised I made varsity because the people on the team were really good and I didn’t think I could like up to their expectations,” Carbone said.
The feeling of making a team with people you barely know must feel overwhelming and weird. “All my friends were on JV so I was nervous about being alone on the team and didn’t think I would fit in with everyone,” Carbone said.
Being a freshmen has a lot of perks in and outside of cheer. Many people know who you are because you stand out on the team. “The advantage of being the only freshmen on varsity are the middle schoolers look up to me and see me as a good example,” Carbone said.
Along with advantages come disadvantages. “A disadvantage would be I’m not on a team with some of my close friends because they’re on JV,” Carbone said.
“I think I made varsity because I show effort and dedication and I practice a lot of my time improving for cheer,” Carbone said.
Many people in middle school will be trying out for sports when they get into high school and hope to make a varsity team. “The best thing to do before tryouts is to practice a lot and try your hardest and you will improve over time,” Carbone said.
Carbone has made many friends with the people on her team throughout these past months. “The team has felt like a family to me. They were very welcoming to me and I’m going to miss my team members when they graduate,” Carbone said.
Since Carbone is the only freshman on the team, she will watch all of her teammates graduate before her. “It’s going to be weird when I’m a senior because I’ll be the only person on this team that didn’t graduate,” Carbone said.
This is only Carbone’s first year of high school, so she has plenty of time left to participate in cheer. “For the next three years of cheer, I’m looking forward to improving myself and cheer with new people every year,” Carbone said.
Many of Carbone’s peers in her grade have also made varsity teams this year and are spending their fist year of high school improving themselves.
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