Melanie Weber is not your ordinary freshman.
As you look at all varsity sports you will notice that these teams are filled with all seniors, juniors and even some sophomores. However, Weber showed coach Marianne Murphy that she belongs on Walpole Varsity Field Hockey, despite her inexperience at the high school level. Weber first started when she went into the fifth grade, and now she is the starting center for the Porkers.
The most difficult part of playing on a high school sports team is usually not the practices but rather the tryouts. Despite not being able to attend captains practices as a freshman, Weber decided to take matters into her own hands by training and preparing on her own for the upcoming season; she attended various training camps including the Walpole training camp.
Weber said, “I thought that the tryouts were nothing different since I have been playing field hockey for so long, it was just like a normal field hockey practice”.
Most freshmen would find it frightening to be surrounded by older and more skilled athletes, but Weber is up for the challenge. At practices, the girls perform warm-ups, shooting, and passing drills along with some exercises that work on their stick skills. Most freshmen would find these exercises difficult; however, Weber has adapted to them very quickly.
Weber set a goal for herself while entering high school to be a freshman on varsity. Playing on a varsity team means that the opposing teams will be tougher to defeat, but Weber noted that playing against the stronger teams is not new to her since she had participated in some clinics that upperclassmen attended before she came to Walpole High.
Weber said, “My favorite thing about playing on the varsity team is just being able to play with the seniors who are going to go to college next year to play.”
The first year in high school can be difficult and even scary. It can be confusing due to a new building and new schedule that differs from your old school, but to most kids it is important to make a sports team. Most freshmen want to be able to play on any team even if it is the freshmen or the JV team. However, Melanie Weber has set an example of how a freshman can make a big impact on one of the best field hockey programs in the state.
