Now in their own league: Freshmen team takes to the field

To accommodate more players this year, coaches have created the first Aragon freshman football team in 35 years. The primary purpose of the freshman team is to allow many more students to participate in what Coach Ed Larios recognizes as “something you can only experience in high school.” Last year, only three of the 22 freshman players on the frosh-soph football team got the chance to play, and the coaches wanted to remedy that.

This additional team has increased the sheer number of freshman able to participate in the sport, preparing them for upcoming years of football. It provides an opportunity for many more players to participate in the sport with considerably more playing time than if they played on the frosh-soph team. Coach Larios says, “[You’re] not just standing on the sidelines wearing a uniform.”

Furthermore, Larios and other coaches hope that many of the freshmen will return to play as sophomores. By providing them with a year of experience early on, Larios foresees that the returning players will have a better sense of what to do on the field, especially in their fourth year as seniors.

The creation of this team has also affected players on the frosh-soph team. Sophomore Jovonne Ortiz says, “It is a smaller team, [allowing us] to execute more.”

Over the years, a mounting concern has grown about the number of freshman playing football at Aragon, much less the amount of time they spend on the field. Larios says, “A lot of kids are coming [to the team] as freshman and get lost when they compete with sophomores for spots on the frosh-soph team.” He adds, “It was like putting kids that didn’t do well in Algebra in a Geometry class.”

Freshman Kevin Huang says, “If not for the additional freshman football team, a lot of the freshman would be sitting on the sidelines watching.” He adds, “the only downside is that we don’t have as much experience as the sophomore team, but we [are getting] more experience.”

Another possible flaw in the new freshman team is the slight increase in injuries for the frosh-soph teams. Sophomore Andrew Walker says, “[It] made the team a little smaller. There are less people and less backups, so more people get hurt, [but] we haven’t had too many injuries.”

Sophomore Dominic Proia says, “It’s good to support another [team], [but] we don’t get to know [the freshmen] as well.”

However, the general opinion of the sophomores seems to be that the freshman team carries out its purpose. Sophomore Chakk Sriloy says, “It gives them experience and discipline that they wouldn’t have found elsewhere.

Larios, who states that he was not five feet tall as a freshman and later played professionally for the NFL, is confident that these freshmen team gives “late-bloomers” like him the chance to play. Larios says, “It’s a chance to compete without having to worry about skill level and size.” He adds, “Sometimes I look at the kids and see myself in the mirror.”

Before the beginning of the season, coaches had to go through a lot of planning, most of which has been logistics and game coordination. During practices, the freshman team practices with the frosh-soph team, but in games they face different opponents.

The existence of the freshman team owes itself not only to Larios, but also to all the football coaches who agreed that it had to be created. Much of the success is from the efforts of Coach Steve Sell. Larios says, “[He] moved [the team] into place.”

Some issues that Sell settled for the team include equipment, transportation, and most importantly, opponents and games. A lot of preparation was gone through to ensure a proper football experience for the freshman team. The team has planned seven games, most of which will be county games.

Finding opponents has not been a huge obstacle or problem, as many nearby schools, including Sacred Heart, Burlingame, and Mills have teams that will be playing the freshman team.

Both the coaches and players have high hopes for the freshman team and are hoping it continues to motivate more new players to participate in the sport. Larios says, “We encourage, not discourage.”