By Samantha Keller, Staff Writer ’19

After the loss of superstar athletes Jocelyn Willoughby and George Haglund, the members of the Newark Academy girls basketball and Newark Academy fencing teams knew that they would face challenges this winter season. What they didn’t know was that their biggest obstacle would be their team size. In both the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 season, girls’ basketball has been challenged by competing with a team of less than 10 players. Similarly, over these same two seasons, the fencing team personnel has decreased from around 35 fencers to 20 this season (13 boys and 7 girls).

Despite the fact that 80% of the Newark Academy student body participates in one or more high-school sports, the winter season has always been the least popular of the three. As a small, academically-focused, Prep B high school, composed of less than 450 students, recruiting players to each sports team is inevitably difficult. Of the 200+ eligible female students, only 4-7% have chosen to participate in basketball over the past seven seasons. Some additional factors affecting sports participation include the fact that Newark Academy is not viewed as a sports powerhouse compared to some of the other independent schools, and that there is a policy prohibiting overt sports recruitment.

What about these two sports – girls basketball and fencing – in specific makes participation so miniscule? First, neither is a sport that attracts a student looking to participate solely for exercise. Both require some level of prior skill. When asked to comment on what he believed contributed to the lack of participation in this year’s fencing program, fencer Simon Gorbaty ’19 said, “fencing is considered [to be] a very tough sport that takes a while to master, so I can understand why it may not be the most appealing sport to try in high school without previous experience.” For someone who is just eager to play a sport rather than master it, they are more likely to gravitate towards something like swimming.

However, both girls basketball and fencing have proven that a small team can have its advantages. When asked how she thinks the size of girls basketball has benefitted the team, captain Maria Armas said, “with a smaller team, it is easier to determine everyone’s strengths and weaknesses and use that to your advantage. Also, the size of our team allows us to get really close, translating to better chemistry on the court.” In addition, as Simon stated and Maria agreed, a small team allows “the coaches to allocate more of their attention to each kid.” Newark Academy students always seem to find a positive outlook in what would be bleak situations. There are many athletes from other schools that would just roll over and quit if they were participating on a team of such few players. But at Newark Academy, these small numbers seem to motivate the players more than anything else, as if they have something to prove.

Historically, the girls basketball win-loss record has not correlated to team size. For example, looking back, the 2012 and 2014 teams both had 21-5 records despite the fact that one team got by with 8 girls, while the other carried 14. Similarly, fencing has had varied levels of success the past five years despite dwindling numbers. Despite varied levels of participation, these teams have managed to find “small” ways to be successful. These two programs have proven that the number of players doesn’t guarantee success, but rather it is the hard work and determination of the existing players that does.

It all comes down to how you define success. It is not just the win-loss record or the number of players on the team. Success can be measured in individual improvement, team camaraderie, or just pure enjoyment of a sport. After all, the point of sports is to have fun while also striving to win. It appears that these gritty programs are able to do this despite their lack of participation. Who knows, maybe one of these programs could shock us all and bring home a ring to Newark Academy – which would be even more valuable considering so few kids would have one.