By Cory Tell ‘14, Sports Editor and Rory Tell ‘16, Staff Writer

In competitive athletics, there is a slim difference between being the best, and feeling the heartache and pain of defeat. The difference between the best pitchers in the major leagues, and one struggling in the minor leagues, is a few miles per hour on a fastball and a few inches with respect to pitch location. What separates one team from another when the disparity between high school teams or professional clubs is often quite miniscule? As much as all of the players on a team undoubtedly matter, the constant that typically determines which direction a team will take relies on the club’s best player, the so called “superstar.” Not only do superstars drive fan interest for a particular game, but the star players also often determine the success of a team, despite some of their different styles and leadership qualities.

The “superstar effect,” which is the impact that the league’s best players have on the following of a game, cannot be undervalued — the popularity of a sport is directly proportional to the number of superstars in the game. Fans would much rather watch or attend a game where they are familiar with the players on the floor than view a sporting event where they cannot discern the best players on each team. There is an intimacy that sports followers like to share with their athletes, so when fans are familiar with a superstar player, it gives them a connection that they cherish. People that follow sports also find it much more interesting when superstars are playing because it gives an extra intensity and importance to the game that they are watching. Dan Winkler ‘14 said, “I think having a superstar increases the attractiveness of a given sport or individual game, especially to an audience which may not initially be fans, and especially to young fans. The most attractive aspects of sports, not to make a sweeping generalization, are slam-dunks, home runs, and touchdowns, and that is what the superstars are great at providing… You have the LeBron and Kevin Durant example; those guys are able to make a direct impact on the sport.” Dan reflects the sentiment that superstars can define the popularity of any given sport. This phenomenon also occurs in women’s soccer. Many remember the 2012 Women’s World Cup, where the nation rallied behind our team. However, attention focused on a few star players: Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, and Alex Morgan. With Morgan and Solo in particular, their twitter follower counts exploded as many began to pay attention to women’s soccer. Though the team lost in the final, the tournament brought the United States National Women’s Soccer Team to the public eye, and Solo and Morgan are both superstars to this day.

Superstars are so huge in sports that they even have a substantial impact on the financial state of a city. They bring in enormous amounts of money from fans that go to the games, buy their merchandise, and stir excitement for local businesses and restaurants. For example, after LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in 2010, the city of Cleveland, which is one of the 50 biggest cities in the United States, had a rather significant economic decline. The one-man moneymaking industry that was LeBron James made the city millions from putting the team on television and increasing the value of the ball club. In fact, estimates say that LeBron made businesses in downtown Cleveland upwards of half a billion dollars during his time with the Cavaliers. However, after he left for South Beach, he cost the city more than 50 million dollars in his first season away; businesses lost people celebrating in bars, paying for parking, and buying hotel rooms.

A funny thing about superstars is that they all have very distinctive ways of leading their team towards victory. For example, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is as competitive as anybody that professional sports has ever seen. He is a player that is so intense and serious that he gets angry with teammates for making mistakes in practice, or for not hustling down the court in warm-up drills. However, fellow NBA superstar and Houston Rockers center Dwight Howard is quite the opposite when he is trying to motivate his team. Howard always plays with a smile and enjoys himself on the court, so that his teammates feel comfortable playing with him. He creates a more welcoming environment, whereas Kobe is more demanding in trying to get things done. Derek Jeter, who is retiring after this season, has been the face of the MLB for two decades, partly because of the image he has created for himself. However, a star like Kevin Garnett does not care how he looks to other people, and only concerns himself with the results. Eric Schwed ’14 argued, “I think it matters how a superstar leads a team, but it is impossible to say which way is the best. I personally am more of a fan of the Dwight Howard’s leadership because it’s important to lift your teammates, rather than make them feel inferior like Kobe does.” Regardless of their leadership styles, the one thing that is constant amongst these star players is that they add immense popularity to their sport, and they put their respective teams over the edge — they always seem in the mix for a championship.

While the role of the superstar in sports is quite evident on the professional level, you do not have to look much further than the walls of Newark Academy to find star athletes littered throughout school hallways. Newark Academy Girls Basketball standout Jocelyn Willoughby, who already has gotten significant interest from top tier college basketball programs around the country, is averaging nearly 24 points per game this season and will become apart of the 1,000 point club as just a sophomore. She has already led the girls team to the Prep title this year for the second consecutive season. Meanwhile, as a freshman on Newark Academy’s golf team, Sam Goldenring was named Second Team All-State according to New Jersey Professional Golf Association for his performance in winning preps and state sectionals and finishing in the top 10 in both counties and tournament of champions. Finally, George Haglund, an international fencing sensation who is currently ranked first in the country for foil in the under 16 bracket, has not only won an individual championship in New Jersey, but he has also won an under 16 tournament in Italy and will be going to the World Championships in April for the same age group. However, like many other talented stars, George realizes that the success of the team comes down to much more than only his individual performance. He said, “The way high school fencing meets are set up, I can only contribute a small part to winning. I can only win a maximum of 3 of the 14 bouts necessary to win a meet so although I am an important part of the team, it’s still a small part. I really don’t consider myself a superstar because I’m constantly competing at national and international tournaments with people just as good, if not better than I am.” While Newark Academy boasts some of the best athletes around the state, it is important to recognize that as much as the role players need the superstars to succeed, the stars also need the other players on their team to perform their roles in order to achieve the ultimate feeling of satisfaction: winning.