On February 7, NDB senior soccer and basketball players say goodbye to their respective sports in their final home games of the season. Both teams played Harker and had large crowds watching them play as parents, classmates, and NDB community members rallied around the team in a final send-off for their players.

The soccer team is sending off seven seniors this year. Senior Athena Carvallo has been the team’s standout player this season, affectionately dubbed by teammates “Athena the Goat” for her skill and leadership.

“I have enjoyed my time on this team and hope to possibly continue playing soccer once I graduate,” Carvallo. “We still have a few games ahead of us that we are training hard for and we hope to do well in CCS.”

The team has enjoyed several successes this season. Fresh off of a league championship victory last year, the varsity team brought home the championship trophy from the Arizona Soccer Showcase in Phoenix only a few short weeks ago.

The basketball team, saying goodbye to a significant six of 12 varsity players, has also enjoyed a successful season with a 12-2 win record as of January 17.

“This season has definitely been the most fun and bittersweet out of all my years on the Notre Dame basketball team,” Samson commented. “I am really excited to finish out the rest of the season, but I definitely know that once it’s over it’ll be really sad.”

While the conclusion of sports seasons can be bittersweet, it provides an opportunity to reflect as a team on the contributions of the seniors as they move into the next phase of life.