As the school year kicks off, the Niles West girls golf team is well into their 2017-2018 season. The golf team has already selected their members, and have already started off on a great note. The girls have already competed in five matches and performed well in all five.

Junior and captain Alena Sirichotiratana has been on the varsity team for three years and is excited for this new season with the new additions to the varsity roster.

“I’m excited to see what improvements we can make as a team this year,” she said. “As a team, we are doing well, but there is always room for improvement. We will continue to work hard and work together as a team to help each other polish our skills so that we can achieve our team goals.”

Sirichotiratana is also looking to improve her personal skills to be given the opportunity to compete at the state competition like the captains before her.

“Last year I missed state by a couple of strokes so that is definitely a personal goal for me this year. I would also like to follow in the past captain’s footsteps and win regionals as an individual. Placing at more of our tournaments and placing at regionals and making it to sectionals would definitely have to be a team goal for us,” Sirichotiratana said.

Sirichotiratana admits that there is a lot of pressure to lead her team as a captain and be a role model for new golfers.

“There’s a lot of pressure for me to be a leader and good example for my teammates. There is a lot of responsibility to play the captain role this year, especially as a junior,” Sirichotiratana said.

Junior and first-year varsity member Grace Hyman is eager to be competing in golf matches at the varsity level, and also to bond with her teammates.

“I’m excited to make new friendships and just become closer with the girls. Already we’ve been getting so much closer and it’s making the season so enjoyable. I’m of course also excited about having our new JV coach, Mrs. Tuecke, as part of the team,” Hyman said. “I’m expecting to improve my game from last year, and I think I can speak for the entire team when I say that we are all looking for ways to improve. I definitely don’t think we’ll be the best team score-wise, but I do think that we are winning when it comes to being an actual team. Even if we don’t finish first, we will always give it 100 percent and support each other through the good and bad shots we take.”

Senior Cielo Jones is enthusiastic about her last season on the golf team and is confident in her team and herself to be able to preform well for the remainder of the season.

“This season, I’m mostly excited for our tournaments because that shows how far we’ve come as a team to be able to play against some of the top schools in the state. It’s a great opportunity to represent Niles West out on the course. A personal goal of mine is to shoot under 45 on a 9 hole and to shoot 100 on an 18 hole course. As a team, our goal is to place at conference and place at sectionals. The dream is to make it to regionals and then make it down to state,” Jones said.

Jones also believes that all the hard work the team put in during the off-season will pay off during their matches.

“For this season, all of us worked really hard in the summer,” Jones said. “Varsity went to a summer camp together and our captain won player of the year for Illinois. During practice, we all have one goal and that is to get better every day. I’m very confident in my team and can’t wait for the rest of the season.”

Come show your support at their next game against St. Ignatius at TAM golf course on Sep. 5 at 4:00 P.M.