A tradition for many high school sports teams is the acquisition of new uniforms for their seniors each year, giving recognition to the older members of the team. However, the story is different this year for the girls soccer team.They were unable to receive new uniforms for their seniors this year. This is partially due to the failed referendum in November, resulting in budget cuts for the district.
“Budget cuts are a big (consequence) right now. Fortunately, during my first year coaching here, I was able to get the equipment that I needed that will last me for years to come,” Coach Lindsey Rost said. “But with the referendum failing, our uniform rotation went from originally every four years, to now having to wait a few more years for new ones. Seniors were definitely supposed to get new uniforms this year. It’s unfortunate that we were unable to provide them with that sort of excitement for the new season.”
One of these seniors that was supposed to get a new uniform this year includes Claire Paugels, who has been playing soccer since she was in elementary school.
“I’m upset about not receiving new uniforms at all during my high school career. I feel as though our girls soccer program has gotten the short end of the stick quite often and has for many years,” Paugels said. “Not only have none of the seniors this year received new uniforms at all during high school, but many of the girls older than us never received a new uniform either.”
Due to the lack of funding impacting the girls soccer team, senior Ana Deleon says that future enrollment in the team may be impacted as well.
“I feel like the lack of support given from the school impacts the team. We’re stuck in boy’s uniforms, while basketball girls do not have the same problems,” Deleon said.
Despite the disappointment that comes with being unable to afford new uniforms, the team is motivated to do well this season and prove that uniforms aren’t everything.
“We’ve played even better without new uniforms. We use the disappointment of not being able to get new uniforms as motivation,” Deleon said. “We’re doing so much better than last year, and I’ve seen so much improvement due to Ms. Rost.”
This motivation has proven to be useful to the team, giving each of the girls a boost to perform better than before. After all, soccer isn’t about uniforms; it’s about the sport.
“This soccer season has been amazing,” Rost said. “At the end of the day, it’s not a beauty competition, it’s not about who has the best-looking uniforms, it’s about who has the discipline and the dedication to this sport.”
