Captains Crush It At The Banquet
Captains Daniel Reid, Spencer Daniels, Josh Berman and Ziggy Hallgarten were poised, articulate and very impressive as they addressed the 200 attendees at the 2016 Staples boys soccer banquet.
Each described a different element of their 4-year experience as Staples soccer players.
Reid talked about his growth as a person. Daniels described friendship and camaraderie.
Berman mentioned the joy of a wet, cold and windy Sunday training session — organized by the players themselves. He stopped, looked around and thought how special that was.
He also took time during matches to look at Loeffler Field, the fans and The Hill. Then, he said, “I would look to every player on the bench and the field, and just smile at how much I trust every one of them to have my back, because they know we would all have theirs.”
Berman will never forget sad moments either, like the aftermath of the season-ending game against Farmington, because he could see “how much everyone truly cared, and how much it meant to them.”
He ended with a message to the freshmen in the room: Enjoy your moments. He told the sophomores: Carry on the Staples tradition, and make great moments. He told the juniors: Be grateful for what you have, and become leaders.
And to the seniors, Berman said: “For all of us, the worst part about this season is that these moments are over. We will no longer be playing on Loeffler Field, practicing in a rainstorm together or keeping each other’s heads high as we play our last game.”
However, he noted, “the best part of Staples soccer is that we are always a part of it. As alumni, there will be new moments to hang on to — just in a different role.”
Hallgarten’s theme was time and emotion. He said that he cried after his 1st varsity game, because he did not play — and was not used to that. He cried too after his last varsity game, because — “well, yeah.”
He said that when he got off the bus from Farmington — “weeping in Dan’s arms” — he thought about how much he’d miss things like the Octathlon; kayaking and grocery shopping and jumping off a 70-foot cliff on the summer trip, and so much more. Only his fellow seniors could know, he said, that “Staples soccer is so much more than a high school soccer team. The soccer part isn’t even a close second to the family part.”
Family meant the bitterness of waking up at 5:30 a.m. to work out for an hour in the winter — and the joy of playing spikeball in a park 5 hours from home. It meant the dread of the Cooper test, which was erased by the excitement of finishing under 12:20.
“So freshmen, prepare for it,” he said. “Sophomores, grasp it. Juniors, embrace what you have.”
Hallgarten paused. “And to my seniors, don’t cry because it’s over. Smile, because it happened.”
Want more from the banquet? Click here for Armelle Daniels’ fantastic slide show.
The final team cheer at the banquet. (Photo/Armelle Daniels)
