As the fall season ends, the winter sports season has just begun. Tryouts for girls and boys soccer and basketball teams took place the week of Nov. 4 and continued until Nov. 15 when teams became official and practices began.
Across the board, winter sports teams have expressed their excitement for a great upcoming season.
“I am excited to bond some more with the guys. We got a brand new team. We got a lot of new guys and I feel like we are going to be good this year so I am excited to see what we can do,” Tyler Wells ‘26, who is on the varsity basketball team, said.
His teammate NJ Gray ‘27 added to this eagerness.
“I think it’s going to be a great season for us. I have high hopes for the team. I feel like we can shock a lot of people. We are going to do pretty well. I am excited,” Gray said.
In addition to all the excitement and predicted spirit from the Branson community for boys basketball, Avery Myerberg ‘25, captain of the girls’ varsity basketball team, hopes to see “a lot more spirit” for the girls’ varsity basketball team. She also encourages people to come out to their games and support them on important games such as senior night and playoffs. Myerberg predicts the season to be “pretty successful” for the team.
The recurring theme of repeating success is evident in both varsity girls and boys’ soccer. Both teams had victorious seasons last year, as they both made it to the MCAL championship and varsity girls soccer even won the championship game.
“We set a high bar last year that we want to improve upon,” Bode Dossey ‘25, a varsity boys soccer captain said, referencing how far they made it into MCAL.
Jaya Breene ‘27, a varsity boys soccer player, responded by saying, “we are always nervous about MCAL [playoffs]. We did good last year so just doing good again this year [is a goal].”
But, in addition to the common focus of getting far into MCAL playoffs, athletes of all sports value the community that is cultivated during the season.
“I am really excited to play a lot of my friends. I have a lot of friends who play on different teams in the league so it’s always fun to compete with them instead of be on the same team. And I am also just excited for the general camaraderie that grows in the season,” Dossey said.
Riley Pearson ‘25, a girls’ varsity soccer captain and athletic ambassador, emphasized her excitement to plan the winter sports pep rally, being on a winter sports team. Pearson also revealed that her and the other athletic ambassadors “are trying to [get] more people to go to games. Whether that be captains of various sports teams all agreeing to go to [each others’ games] or just getting there to be some more support at games especially because soccer is right on the field.”
Pearson stressed that she hopes to see more spirit at girls varsity soccer games this year. She encouraged everyone “to spread that love to all the sports teams.”
