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Spring sports playoffs can be challenging for seniors who have graduated and are ready to move on.
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This week, every high school spring sport will begin or complete its postseason. So take this as a public service announcement. Seniors, there’s an illness out there that can derail your entire season in a matter of hours. It’s extremely contagious, and can run through an entire team without much warning.
Symptoms can vary from person to person, but common ones include finishing you final exams, getting your diploma, and partying all night at Project Graduation.
We’re talking about senioritis, gang, and the best coaches know how to see signs of it and nip it in the bud.
“The biggest thing I try to focus on with the seniors who are no longer in school is what their day-to-day looks like now,” said Darcey Gardiner, Windham’s softball coach. “Are they staying up late and sleeping all day until practice? Are they sitting out in the sun tanning all day? What are they drinking/eating? Those are all questions that I will ask them daily and hold them accountable to make sure we’re prioritizing our bodies’ health.”
Windham holds graduation Sunday afternoon, which means if the team makes the deep run in the Class A softball tournament it knows it’s capable of (the Eagles are 14-2 and the No. 2 seed in the South), the team’s five seniors will have been out of school more than a week when it’s time for the regional championship game on June 17.
Gardiner said senioritis hasn’t been a concern yet, and she doesn’t expect it to become one.
“Thankfully in my six years of coaching high school softball, I’ve had teams who made the playoffs, so keeping the seniors focused post graduation has probably been easier than it should be for me,” she said.
At Falmouth, boys lacrosse coach Dave Barton and his team have been looking forward to 2025 since the seniors were in junior high. The Class A state champion last season, the Navigators returned 15 seniors, including four All-Americans. Falmouth is loaded. Just one of its 14 regular-season opponents stayed within 10 goals of the Navigators.
Repeating as state champion has been the mission since practices began in March. A senioritis outbreak could derail that, as the Navigators know.
“It’s a great question — and honestly, with this particular group, ‘senioritis’ hasn’t really been something we’ve had to worry about,” Barton said. “This is a special class. I’ve been with most of these guys since they were in third grade, and we’ve been talking about the year 2025 ever since. They’ve always had a clear vision for what they wanted this final chapter to look like, and they’ve taken ownership of that from Day 1.”
The big thing, said Barton, is holding each other accountable. Sure, go to the beach. But when you come to the field, be ready to work just as hard as you did in April.
“Everyone knows what that standard is, and more importantly, why it matters. These guys genuinely love showing up every day, being around each other, and getting better. That’s not something you can manufacture. It comes from years of shared commitment, joy, and belief in something bigger than yourself.”
High school graduation is one of life’s great rites, a moment in everyone life’s that closes one chapter and opens another, whether that chapter is college or a head-first leap into the real world. For senior athletes, the playoffs mean high school has a hold for a little while longer. It’s no wonder so many shrug it off with a touch of senioritis. You’ve put in your time. You’re ready for the next thing.
Gardiner makes sure she gives her team weekends off when possible, and she’ll shorten practices if the Eagles are working hard. That’s another thing she reminds her seniors. You are going to miss this when it’s over.
“While inside practice, my seniors are probably more dialed in than anyone,” Gardiner said. “Their focus is to play together as long as they can one last time.”
At Falmouth, Barton stresses to his seniors that they can go down as maybe the best boys lacrosse team in state history, but only if they see it all the way through to the state championship.
“They know their legacy is being written right now, and they’re excited to make it one worth remembering,” Barton said.
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