The Rocklin High School girls golf team, with only nine members, has gotten extremely close this year with not just the players, but coaches as well. Van rides, food stops, and practices were where the girls and the coaches bonded. Kennedy Wilson, a senior, believed a smaller team helped “everybody get along [and] it’s very easy to sit and talk and be able to have fun because it’s not such a huge team where there’s cliques.” Janie Serrano, a junior, agreed and added that the team was “really close knit, [they’re] all basically a family. That’s the vibe.” With fewer girls on the team, each player had the chance to get to know one another better and build relationships that would last.

Not only would the relationships last, but the memories would live on as well. Serrano’s favorite memory was one of their “band trips. [They] go to a lot of away matches, and on the way home, [they] always stop for something sweet. [They] sit down, [they] talk about the match and stuff going on, and it’s always really [fun].” Wilson’s favorite moment was when they “were blasting the music super loud [on the drive home from a match] and Coach Wagner knew all the words to the whole song of Baby Got Back, and he sang it so perfectly.” Moments like these were ones players would never forget because of the fun and excitement tied to them.

Coach Wagner knew all the words to the whole song of Baby Got Back

-Kennedy Wilson

The team also spent extra time together when they got food after every away match. This was one of Wilson’s favorite traditions because they “get free food after school.” Since it was such a small team, the funds didn’t always have to go toward jerseys and equipment; instead, they could be put toward team bonding and hangouts after practices and matches.

Why play golf?

When parents start putting their kids in sports, not many choose golf. Most players don’t start until later, in middle school or high school. Serrano said she chose “to play golf because it’s one of [her] favorite sports and [she] enjoys watching it. [She] started playing with [her] grandpa at the end of seventh grade.” She has played ever since and still enjoys it just as much as when she first started with her grandpa.

On the other hand, Wilson did not start playing until freshman year. She said she “didn’t have any sports to play and [her] dad offered golf up,” so she “chose to play, and [has] stuck with it for all four years.”