They survived freshman growing pains. Now, 13 Odessa High seniors will play college sports
ODESSA – To athletic director Dan Pritchard, it was like “building a ship in the middle of the ocean.”
Everyone at Odessa High – the administration, coaches and especially the 250 students in the first freshman class – had a lot to learn when the school opened in the fall of 2020.
Trying to start athletic programs during the height of the coronavirus pandemic made it even more challenging.
“It was really rough,” Riley Curtis said of playing on a junior-varsity team that was outscored 138-35 in seven games. “We had a team, but I think we only won one game the entire season. … We had to practice in masks, play in masks, so it was pretty rough.”
Memories like that made Thursday a monumental day, as 13 members of what is now Odessa’s first senior class gathered in the gym for the Ducks’ first athletic signing ceremony.
BIG CHANGES DIAA board narrowly approves rules allowing high school athletes to profit from NIL
They made their college choices official, posed for photos, celebrated with family and friends and reflected on the ups and downs of leading the way in high school sports at a brand-new school.
“We didn’t have a road map to follow,” said Pritchard, who also served as the Ducks’ head football coach for the first four seasons. “We had to kind of develop it as we went along.”
The pandemic forced most other Delaware high schools to focus on varsity sports only in 2020. But the Ducks only had one class – all freshmen.
“Most of the high schools across the state did not even have freshman athletics,” Pritchard said. “… We played JV teams. We played some teams twice.”
Odessa could only come up with six boys lacrosse players, so they joined crosstown rival Appoquinimink’s JV team for the first season.
The Ducks also only had six players in girls soccer. But they played modified games – and amazingly went 4-0 against rival JV teams.
“We had to play 6 v 6,” said Lexi Kempski, now a senior who will continue to play soccer at Cedar Crest College. “There were a lot of obstacles, but it was a lot of fun.”
David Johnston is now a fully grown linebacker headed to Delaware Valley University to continue playing football. But like everyone else at Odessa, his freshman year was filled with growing pains.
“When we first showed up, the field wasn’t built yet,” Johnston said. “So we had to do our summer workouts in front of the kindergarten, in the grass. … That was kind of the introduction to this is going to be different than a normal experience. It was brand new.”
That’s why the Ducks’ athletic director was proud to see the seniors celebrating their college choices – and getting ready to continue competing at the next level.
“They have blazed their own trail in many ways,” Pritchard said. “… The juniors, sophomores and freshmen from this year now have a benchmark to really compare how are we going to do against the senior class from last year.”
Odessa High has swelled to more than 1,300 students and 100 staff members this year. The seniors have been the leaders, every step of the way.
“We’ve been able to take from each year and learn from it,” Johnston said. “We didn’t have anybody before us to learn from. I didn’t have anybody ahead of me to look up to when I was a freshman and a sophomore, to know what to do and how to act.”
Curtis will continue playing softball at Cairn University. Other Odessa seniors set to compete in college sports include:
⚾ JC Alley (Cairn baseball)
⚾ Mac Keating (York College baseball)
🏑 Grace Barnett (Eastern University field hockey)
⚽ Nate Barnett (Clarks Summit University soccer)
⚽ Aiden Conover (Neumann University soccer)
🥍 Naomi Haysel (Gordon College lacrosse)
🥍 Braden Hill (Lycoming College lacrosse)
🏃 Jordan Hollis (Rowan University track)
🏀 Lana Savage (Gwynedd Mercy University basketball)
🏈 Jeremiah Green (Concord University football)
🏇 Natalie Holdren (Lynchburg University equestrian)
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on X (aka Twitter): @BradMyersTNJ
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Odessa High School's first senior class holds athletic signing ceremony
