Student Athletes

With an 80 percent participation rate across all four school divisions, our athletics program is an integral part of most of our students’ Seven Hills experience. Here, our student athletes, in their own words, describe the important role athletics has played in their lives.   

Brooke, ’21 Brooke is a two-sport athlete in soccer and basketball. She started playing soccer for Seven Hills when she entered the Upper School and said at first, she was nervous to join the team. Thanks to her classmates, she feels welcomed.” “The upperclassmen have been great to all of us,” Brooke said. “It’s been a good environment to be playing in.” The team bonds through different activities throughout the season, including an FC Cincinnati soccer game and seeing the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team. Brooke said, as she moves through Seven Hills, she wants to set the same example as her teammates. “I want to be as good a leader to kids coming up as the seniors, juniors, and sophomores have been to me,” Brooke said.

Annie, ’20 Annie is a three-sport varsity athlete in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. One of Annie’s favorite memories? A tournament soccer game. Her team wore pink for breast cancer awareness and bonded before the game. “We just got really pumped up for the game together,” Annie said. She likes how Seven Hills is a small school, where teammates come to feel like family. “The players get to know each other a lot better,” she said. “The relationships we create are a lot closer.” Annie said the teammates are comfortable helping everybody do their best. “We all try to push each other,” she said.

Brice, ’19 Brice has a very important role on the boys varsity basketball team—captain. As captain, he knows how to help his teammates. “One of the jobs of being captain is to encourage your teammates,” Brice said. Brice has been playing varsity basketball since his freshmen year. He said without it, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get to know his older peers. “Without sports, I probably wouldn’t have talked to or hung out with the upperclassmen, especially my freshmen and sophomore years,” he said. Brice’s favorite thing about participating in athletics? He enjoys getting out on the court and having a good time.

LUCY, ’18 For Lucy, who participates in swimming, softball, and tennis, her sophomore year was one for the books. Lucy was named an individual state swimming champion. She remembers competing in the 500 freestyle. “It was one of the best races of my life. It was a close race for the whole 500, and it came down to the final lap.” Lucy’s coaches have helped mold her as an athlete, encouraging her to embrace her improvements, “no matter how small.” “Coach Tom Betts taught me so much, not just about softball, but excelling in everything you do. His lessons, like ‘think one step ahead,’ and ‘shake off your mistakes,’ apply both on and off the field.”

Brennan, ’19 Brennan is a two-sport varsity athlete in soccer and basketball. He said Seven Hills has a great athletics community that’s about winning, and so much more. “Every team here wants to win, but they also keep in mind that we’re a community,” Brennan said. “It’s more of a family than a team.” The community is marked by strong leaders. Brennan said his coaches have led him down the right path both on and off the field. He noted that his soccer coach, Nick Francis, focuses on the whole person, not just the soccer player. “He really focuses on being a young man and what it means to not just do well in soccer, but also do well in life,” Brennan said. “He works on our character just as much as he works on us athletically.”

Nick, ’18 Nick has committed his time in Upper School athletics to tennis. During his junior year, his hard work paid off with a state championship win in varsity tennis, a goal since his freshmen year. “It was a really, really cool moment to win the state championship,” he said. “It was a special moment.” Nick has participated in Seven Hills athletics since he was young. He said he has built relationships and learned a lot in the process. “At young ages, you’re playing on teams with all your friends. It creates an extra, stronger relationship with a lot of the kids you’re already pretty close with,” he said. “It’s just taught me so much as far as team work and how to deal with different personalities.”