Many eighth graders at TBS play football at The Benjamin Upper School, some of these eighth graders include Aydan Elam, Luca Zaccagnino, Jackson Link and Bennett Hamilton. These four eighth graders have to make a commute to the Upper School every single day to be able to practice.
One of the players, Aydan Elam, plays both on the JV (Junior Varsity) and the Varsity Team. Aydan’s older brother, Kaiir Elam, played for the Upper School, the Florida Gators, and now the Buffalo Bills (NFL). This sort of pedigree opens a large amount of opportunities for Elam to be great. “ I feel like I’m ready [for the Upper School],” Elam said. “I’m ready to face this challenge because I feel like I will develop as a player.” Elam’s optimism creates real life results. As an eighth grader, Elam has had numerous touchdowns in his first season playing high school football.
Another player, Luca Zaccagnino, is the starting JV quarterback for the Bucs. Zaccagnino is a multi-sport athlete, playing football and lacrosse. Zaccagnino has made numerous touchdown passes that were integral to the game. Being a quarterback, Luca has had to work all summer to be great and to even have a spot on the team. When asked how playing up has affected him, Luca said, “It has positively affected me because it’s getting me ready for when I’m actually in high school.” This dedication has led him to start every game for the high school’s JV team.
Lucas Muzzillo is a football player for the Middle School. When asked how the eighth graders would hav
e helped the team, he responded, “…when you have a sandwich with no meat, it’s not going to be good. It’s not going to be a good sandwich. It’s certainly not going to win you any cooking competitions for sandwiches.” Muzzillo refers to the eighth graders playing up as the “meat” of the sandwich. The eighth graders that moved up have left a definite hole in the Middle School program.
Another player, Jackson Link, started playing football only a year ago and already has a starting spot on the Upper School’s JV team. Link is a staggering 6’1 at only 13 years old. He has played football, baseball, and basketball but now only focuses on football and basketball. Jackson has started multiple games as the team’s right guard on the O-line. Link states, “Playing up has positively affected me because I’ve got better training out of it, and I’ve learned more.” Upper School practice starts right when the Middle School day ends, which means the eighth graders have to rush to the separate campus. On a bad day, this commute can take thirty minutes, leading to less practice time. Zaccagnino stated, “A lot of struggles that I face is timing because some practices start before our school ends, so it’s hard to get there in time for practice sometimes.” Elam has also expressed concern with the fact that he has to leave early from school to go to two games a week. Aydan misses about 2-3 class periods a week from football alone.
