Sarah Showalter I had the chance to sit down with the captain- and goalie- of the J-Town soccer team, Jonathan Dearing. He said that being the team captain comes with responsibility. “It can be very wearing because there is a lot of freshmen who need to be taught the ropes of soccer. Obviously, I’m one of the people having to teach them.” Jonathan says that all the teammates are like brothers. I’d think that with the way Jonathan described the schedule, it’d be kind of hard not to be like brothers. He told me that the schedule is really busy, with back-to-back games, and practice in between except for Wednesdays, which are free basically every week. The team’s goal for this year is to beat Whitefield Academy. I don’t doubt that the team could beat them with all the practicing and conditioning the players do. Conditioning for the soccer team mainly consists of running and working on the core. The team does not have any before-game rituals; Jonathan confessed, “Right before the game is pretty relaxed because we can’t work ourselves right before we play. We usually just kick the ball around and joke with each other.” He told me the most exciting part of any game is when you score a goal. Jonathan also talked about the most surprising moment in his soccer career. It was when “Hakim nutmegged two other players from the opposing team.” Jonathan said he would like to play soccer in college if given the opportunity. According to Jonathan, soccer is more important than people give credit. “One pet peeve of mine when it comes to soccer is when people say it doesn't take a hard worker to play the sport or that it isn't a well-liked sport because people around the world play it all the time.” Jonathan would know that it’s harder than it looks to play soccer because he has been playing for 7 years. “If I could tell someone one thing about soccer, it’d be that it’s a very active sport.”
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Eddy Graham Stepping forward as the new head coach of the boys’ basketball team here at Jeffersontown High school is Miquel Coleman. His presence is turning out to be the change the team needed. “The team is looking good in our beginning stages” says Coach Coleman. He previously came from The Academy at Shawnee as the head coach of the boys’ team. He has also has coached as an assistant at Southern High School for one year and at Central High school for nine years prior to that. This will be his twelfth year coaching high school basketball all together. “I believe that our team will be very exciting this coming year, and we will make the community proud to be chargers,” ends Coach Coleman. His hopes are high as well as the rest of ours. Go Chargers! Monet Carroll Hello, everyone meet Ashley Pryor! She’s 17 years old and she’s a junior. She plays the tuba and the clarinet. She’s been in band for 6 years! I asked her how she became involved in band and she said she loves music and that her friends inspired her to be in band. Her favorite type of music to play is all types of music. She said that she loves the fact that some of the music they play is music she has heard before, so it makes it easier and more fun. Outside of school she practices her music for fun and she hangs out with her friends. Her favorite part about band is playing at home football and basketball games. There has been a controversy about whether or not band is a sport. She said, “ Yes, band is a sport because we are a team and just like any other team and we have goals. We also practice which isn’t easy because we have to carry instruments and move around in formations which is very tiring.” She plans to play band after she graduates school and goes to college. Karissa Hunt Taylor Sparks, a senior, is captain of the varsity volleyball team here at J-town.She started playing volleyball, seven years ago, after she quit cheer. She had a friend suggest volleyball and she has loved it ever since. She first played for the YMCA but became more competitive and joined club and J-town volleyball. She is a middle hitter for both club and J-town volleyball. Her favorite game was against Fern Creek. “A lot of people showed up to support us and the crowd was crazy. We also won which made it even better.” Before a game, you can find Taylor eating food, usually bdubs or chinese. To her, the hardest part of being captain is trying to stay positive when the team is down and it is affecting their playing. “A leader picks people up when they are down, communicates well, is competitive, is blunt, gives constructive criticism in a nice way, and learns from mistakes. I think that I have those qualities and it’s why our team works so well together.” She says the weirdest thing to happen during the season is when Jessica pulled a tonsil stone out of her mouth and flicked it onto the bleachers. Her biggest pet peeve is people who are tall for no reason and are uncoordinated. She prefers club because everyone there takes it seriously and it is more competitive since club members have to pay. She does want to play volleyball in college if she received a scholarship and would probably go to Georgetown or Lindsey Wilson. The one thing Taylor wants people to know about volleyball? “That we don’t play volleyball just to wear spandex.” Congratulations to the following:
Cross country - Benjamin Lush Football- Terrance Blair Soccer boys- Abdoul Bance Soccer girls- Lesley Villanueva Band- Racquel Causey Volleyball- Taylor Sparks Cheerleading- Sydney Parker Sarah Showalter Paige Waite, dance team captain, took time to answer some questions about the team. She gave me peek into what being on the dance team is like. She says that their schedule is pretty chaotic at times. They practice three days of the week, after school for three hours. During the weeks of competitions, the team practices every day after school for three hours. Paige told me, “We all come up with ideas for the songs and the routines, but coach definitely has the final say in our routines.” I asked her what her preference was for dancing at football games on the grass or at basketball games on the court. “Dancing on the gym floor instead of the turf is like heaven! You can actually focus on the dance and not worry about falling on your butt.” The dance team also dreams big! Their goal for this year is to “shock the nation.” The team knows what they can do and they plan to show off their skills and basically drop everyone’s jaws. They all plan to do this at the annual competitions they participate in like regionals, Eastern dance expo., LIT. expo., Ramsey competition and possibly state, if they qualify. Last year, the team won 1st and 2nd place at regionals, and 2nd and 3rd place at LIT. Of course the team has a lot of training to do before they are ready for these competitions. Training, for the dance team, consists of training all through the summer, as well as at the beginning of each practice. In training, they run, do crunches, burpees, and more. Before any performance, no matter where they’re at, the whole team huddles up and prays. ”I know that I am looking forward to trying out to be a Louisville Ladybird, as well as another team member, Kaela Wilson.” Paige started dancing when she was in middle school, and has continued to dance ever since. “Dancing has always been something that has made me happy. Not only the sport, but also the people on the team. I can be having a terrible day and go to practice and it will turn around.” Karissa Hunt Nathan Braun, a senior, has been bowling for eight years: four of them here at J-town. He started bowling in a league at fern valley with his cousin. His competitive cousin made bowling fun and that inspired his commitment to the game. The most challenging part of bowling for him is fully understanding how to adjust to the lanes. So to prepare for a match, Nathan practices picking up spares and splits, but makes sure to work on adjusting and learning the lanes. “Bowling is a mind game and highly competitive.” His best team bonding memory was, “honoring breast cancer awareness when a teammate’s family went through dealing and coping with the diagnosis.” Nathan represents his team positively. As a leader, he always has a positive attitude and encourages his team to do their best. “I try to make it fun for everyone.” His years of experience is what makes him an advanced bowler; his best average for J-town is a 230. His best game was a perfect 300 while bowling for the Special Olympics. He plans on bowling for any college that offers him a scholarship. He says the weirdest moment is throwing the ball and leaving the strangest splits to pick up. His biggest pet peeves are bowling a perfect ball and leaving a corner pin or getting splits. When he isn’t bowling you can find Nathan rescuing lost dogs during his daily walks. |
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October 2016
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