Every ideal high school team has its seniors leading the team emotionally and physically on the courts—the leader of the court and in the locker rooms. In most cases, seniors are the backbones of the team and advocate for the entirety of the team’s well-being. Every school has star seniors, but what happens when the odds are stacked against a school?
The Abington Friends School Girls Basketball team has a senior-free team for this 2024-2025 school year. Let’s hear some insight into how the juniors are currently stepping up, and how they are overcoming the roadblocks.
How does it feel to be a senior-free team?
Christine Lahtaw ‘26: It does not feel any different because we are still a team and have letters. We are all stepping up to lead. The only sad thing is that we do not have any seniors for senior night. Chemistry and just playing is not any different. There are no bad things.
Nika Kim ‘26: It’s sad not to have any seniors because when I was younger, I really looked up to the seniors at the time.
Does it put you at a disadvantage against other teams?
Lahtaw: A little because if they are seniors, they are more experienced, but everyone on our team is stepping up to fill in those shoes.
Kim: It puts us at a disadvantage sometimes because I feel like our team is young. Especially last year most of us were sophomores and only one senior, and a senior would have experience that can’t be replaced.
What are you doing to step up?
Lahtaw; The returning players are more patient than last season, and we are more patient with the newer players by leading by example. We are more thoughtful and thinking about the team than the senior who did that for us last year.
Kim: I try to lead the team and encourage people and contain my emotions because basketball can be difficult, but being collected helps with maturity.
When you first joined high school basketball, did you expect this to happen?
Lahtaw: No, I did not expect it. I do not think I thought this far out because we had seniors our freshman year, but I did think about this last year when there was one senior and no juniors.
Kim: After my freshman year, I knew there weren’t going to be any seniors because the two sophomores at the time left the team. I was friends with one of them, so it was sad to see her leave.
