Slapping to Victory

With new additions to the roster, the Stuyvesant girls’ varsity handball team, the Peglegs, had to quickly adapt to changes and soar into the season. 

At the start of the season, the Peglegs strived to improve their performance from last season when they finished with a 12-2 record. However, there was a rocky start. Dr. Anna Markova was appointed as the team’s coach just before the season was set to start. Along with this, only three players returned from the previous season. “But thanks to our returners Natalia, Michele, and Sara, we were able to recruit 12 more players,” Coach Markova said. 

This extension to the team was for the best. “It was impressive how quickly the new girls were able to catch on to the sport,” sophomore and co-captain Sara Tang said. The returning players helped teach the new players all about the sport. In handball, players, often wearing just gloves, use their hands to hit a relatively hard blue rubber ball against a wall. One person serves the ball, while the other attempts to return it to the wall. If they can't, the server gains a point. The game can be played either in singles (1v1) or doubles (2v2). You can only gain points from serving, and you need 21 points to win. The sport requires athletes to have very strong hand-eye coordination, balance, and speed, skills that were greatly improved through practice. 

There could not be any room for error this season, which encouraged players to work with effort and dedication. “With practice, [we] can do amazing. More than half of our roster consists of new players who joined this year,” junior and co-captain Michelle Ye said. Though a team composed of mostly new players typically poses more challenges than strengths, the Peglegs turned their fresh roster into an asset. Focusing on training, the new players enhanced the team dynamic. Training starts with the players perfecting their throwing skills. They then move onto practice hitting the ball against the wall at various points and positions. However, the most important part of practice everyday is having the players scrimmage, the most effective way to learn handball. With this strong team morale and hard work, they finished the normal season with an impressive 10-0 record. 

One of the team’s proudest achievements was beating their all-time rival, the Bronx Science’s Wolverines. Last year, they lost to the Wolverines 0-5, so losing two years in a row was not on the table for the Peglegs. With Junior Natalia Zheng, the last returner on the starter lineup, not being able to attend the game, the team had to split their first doubles. 

Despite this sudden change, first doubles player, sophomore Naomi Kurian, persevered, winning her singles match with a blowout 21-2. “She is a new player that joined this year and has grown tremendously,” Ye said. To add to this win, both doubles teams, which included freshman Mabel Yang, freshman Elizabeth Yu, junior Jasmine Buri, and freshman Jennifer Lopez, pulled through and won their respective games. With hustle from the whole team, the Peglegs secured a 4-1 win for Stuyvesant, redeeming their loss last year.

The girls handball team soared into the playoffs. Since they were undefeated in the regular season, the team was able to skip the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Peglegs were faced with a series of challenges that cost them their playoff game against Bayside High School. To start, their game was right after spring break, so the girls had to adjust to coming back in full swing. Many of the players were sick, and Tang was unavailable because of an AP exam. The co-captain’s absence ultimately lowered the team morale, worsening the inevitable nervousness that many new players faced in their first playoff game. The Peglegs ended up losing, falling short of the five wins needed after just two victories. “We did our best and I think we can do even better next year,” Tang said. Although mentality has proved to be a challenge, the Peglegs aim to overcome it and excel in next year's playoffs.

With promising talents joining the team, the Peglegs have high hopes for next season. Despite facing adversity, they remain determined to learn and grow from their experiences in hopes of future successes.