When you hear the last name Passate you may immediately recognise it. Freshman Rocco Passante, Morgan boys soccer’s lone starting freshman, grew up in a household of athletes. Out of seven kids, four played soccer in high school on the varsity level and one continued in college. After 2026, that number will grow, when senior Sadie Passante leaves The Morgan School to play D1 soccer at Central Connecticut State University.
While the last name was recognizable, for freshman Rocco, securing a starting spot on the varsity soccer team posed a challenge. When tryouts came around, this past season, for Morgan’s soccer, Rocco knew he had to do as much as he could to stand out. “I trained hard at every practice and played soccer almost every day,” explained Rocco, who is “very happy [with the results] because that was one of my goals for this season.”
This challenge wasn’t new to Rocco as he grew up playing against his sister, Sadie Passante. Sadie played attacking mid while Rocco played center midfield. Even though the positions were different, Rocco was still able to learn from his older sister. “Because Sadie plays soccer, I am able to learn from her and play with her,” explained Rocco.
Sadie Passante, three years older than Rocco, explained what it was like watching Rocco grow into the player he is now. “We both have shared the love of soccer, so throughout our childhoods we would practice together in our front lawn. We are both very competitive, which made us better. We came up with many drills and games to work on what we needed. I love watching him play. I would go to his games when he was younger and give him feedback.”
In November, Rocco ended his first high school season. Throughout the season, Rocco was able to finish with five goals and nine assists. The Morgans boy soccer team made it to semifinals in states where they lost 4-2. Rocco reflected on the season by saying, “It went well, we had a good regular season, and I wish we could’ve made it a bit farther in the playoffs, but we had a good run.”
For Rocco, being the youngest on the varsity team is not only exciting, it is also a lot more work. With all the older kids having more
experience, Rocco has to train as hard as he can and be more physical than he is used to. “The other people on the team have more experience than me, and I am able to learn from them,” explained Rocco.
His older teammates were able to help give him advice and helped him learn how to play in a more stressful and physical environment compared to the middle school, Eliot. With over 10 of Rocco’s teammates being seniors this year, he explained, “I am going to miss the seniors and my friendships with them as well as the atmosphere they created.”
Next year the team has some holes to fill with the seniors leaving, but they have key returning players such as starter Colton Landino and Goalie Hayden Darr, but “I think we have good players, and we will be good,” explained Rocco
Rocco’s favorite memory from this year is the run to the playoffs. Even though they didn’t win, he enjoyed being able to have fun with his team. This season he was able to learn what it was like being on a varsity high school team and is able to be more prepared for next season. Rocco explained, “My goal for next year is to win something, an award, and a team award.
