How to Take on Leadership Roles in Your Sport as a Freshman

By Ian Busking

Photo taken by Mrs. Krueger, pictured from right to left: Kale Drake, Dane Janowksi, Isaac Krueger

Taking the big leap from junior high to high school can be a huge challenge, especially playing sports on top of just going to school in general. Two freshmen that have done very well with settling into the vast environment of high school are Isaac Krueger and Dane Janowski.

Both of these freshmen run cross country in the fall but in the spring, they go different ways as Krueger runs track and Janowski plays soccer. There are many differences between the sports but one thing that is the same is, both boys have stepped up to fill a huge role in their sports.

There are many different hardships of transitioning from a middle school sport to a high school sport.

Janowski says, “The hardest thing in my opinion is the intensity of the workouts and the higher level of competition you have to face, whether that is your teammates or who you are competing against.”

Settling into having that tougher practices and competition in their sports comes with having leaders that are already on the team if the team is well rounded. In the cross country season during the fall, both of them had many hard things to face. Krueger had to overcome a hip injury and Janowski got quarantined four times during the season. With that, they had teammates who helped them exceed past those limitations.

Krueger mentions that, “Mostly the upperclassmen like Ian Busking, Cameron Jenkins and Gideon Hays are the ones who guide us. They have developed great leadership skills and fall into that roll very well. When you have guys like them around it pushes the rest of the team so much harder.”

Looking up to those guys to help the team succeed, both Krueger and Janowski have learned what it takes to be like them. Both of them came to the consensus of what things you have to do to help keep the team in place.

 “Making sure everyone is positive and keeping their head up. Negativity, especially in cross country and track, will kill a team. Giving a “hey, keep your head up” or “work harder and get 'em next time” can do so much to keep pessimism out,” says Krueger with agreement from Janowski.

Since they both have about three and a half years of highschool left, there is so much time for them to become the leaders that they look up to now for all of the younger classes to come.

Krueger says, “I am going to set a good example like the upperclassman did for me. Nothing motivates someone more than seeing a leader of the team working their butt off for the team. Setting a good example for how a good leader or teammate should conduct themselves is very important to influence future leaders of the team.”

Both of the freshmen are starting to have upcoming games and meets for soccer and track. Make sure you check out the schedule for the sports as you can watch them be leaders in the game on the field, and on the track. Go support your future stars of Owasso and the rest of the sports as well.