While Staples is known for its competitive teams and Division-I-caliber athletes, it is also home to a plethora of students who excel at sports and activities simply for the love of the hobby and participate outside the realm of the Staples competitive sport community.
Charlotte Rossi ’17 is an example of one of these students and has been an avid biker since she was eight. Rossi got hooked on biking after going on a biking trip with her parents in Yellowstone National Park. Rossi has since completed various biking excursions, her most impressive being a 1,000 mile trek from Seattle, Washington to San Francisco, California in just four weeks.
During her West Coast journey, she was able to view the world with a different perspective, one that she could not have gotten without her love for biking.
Rossi insists that biking is something that everyone should try and believes in the therapeutic effects of biking. “When I’m biking, I am able to get lost in my thoughts and see the world from a different perspective,” Rossi said, and added “it’s great exercise, too!”
Andrew Van Riper ’16 is another student who finds value in playing sports in a non-competitive setting. He has been hooked on golf since he started playing with his dad, and it is now a lifelong hobby.
“While it would be fun to play golf competitively, I prefer to just play for fun and use it as a chance to hang out with my friends and joke around for a few hours,” Van Riper said “It`s a game everybody should give a try.”
Many Staples students play sports as a hobby during the winter season. Skiing is a popular choice and there are many talented skiers who choose to not participate on the highly competitive ski team. Instead, they choose to ski just for fun.
Daniel Perez ’16 loves to ski with his family and has taken multiple trips to Europe to pursue his hobby. “Skiing should be more about enjoying yourself and the company that you are with rather than racing down the mountain, Perez said.
While students agree that there is value in being on a Staples team, the same can be said about playing outside of them. “Even though I play two Staples sports, some of my fondest memories of playing them were completely outside of those teams,” hockey and lacrosse player Billy Hutchison ’17 said. Hutchison added, “playing sports just for fun is something that, I think, is really important.”
