After regularly watching football with his brother when he was younger, Andover Football Co-Captain Joe Carrara ’24 found his passion for the game. Carrara began to play football in the fifth grade and has continued his football career at Andover, serving as Co-Captain for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons.
Part of Carrara’s leadership strategy is to be a role model for the team, hoping to show confidence in his teammates skills and abilities.
“I try to lead by example, and I try to be pretty vocal on the field and always picking up my teammates, making sure they know that I trust them and know I believe in them,” said Carrara.
According to Carrara, Andover Football is a very diverse team, with many players bringing unique experiences with the game. Carrara highlighted how each player’s distinct background helps the team improve its level of play.
Carrara said, “We have so many kids and from all different backgrounds…whether it’s where they come from, what they know, [or] who they’ve played with before. But we’re just always competing, whether it’s our best players practicing against each other, or our JV players too. Everyone’s always trying to make each other better, because we know that in the long run that’s what’s gonna…be best for the team.”
Coming in as a postgraduate and a new member of the team, Lincoln Beal PG ’24 looked to Carrara as a leader on the team. Beal noted that Carrara was consistently acting as a role model for the team, allowing the players to easily follow his lead.
“Joe definitely leads by example. Being someone new, being a PG, definitely took a while to adjust but I followed Joe and he always does the right thing, so it was really easy for me to adjust,” said Beal.
Another new member of the team, Andy Du ’25, felt welcomed by Carrara. Especially as a new Upper, Du was apprehensive about the start of the year and playing on a new team with unfamiliar people, but Carrara helped ease his nerves.
“I was a little shy about meeting some of the new kids, but Joe was super proactive with reaching out to me and being a super nice guy. So I felt super welcomed by him and the entire football team just before the season. Joe’s been a great leader for us on and off the field and he’s a role model for all of us,” said Du.
With a lot of material to learn before the official start of the season, Beal leaned on Carrara’s guidance and experience. According to Beal, Carrara was always around to lend a hand to Beal and the other new players on the team.
Beal said, “So I had to learn a whole new playbook and Joe obviously being here for a few years, he knows the playbook pretty well and whenever I had a question, he knew exactly what I had to do and I knew I could always trust him to tell me the right thing. And he does that with a lot of PG’s too.”
Carrara highlighted why he enjoys football and what keeps him coming back to the sport. Carrara’s love and enthusiasm for the game are reflected in his leadership and are obvious to the players who recognize and appreciate Carrara’s passion.
“The bonds I make with my teammates and just being able to hang out with guys all the time and [with] teams of 50 people, you just make so many friendships… That’s definitely the biggest thing [that keeps me coming back to the sport]. And then [there’s] the competitiveness of the sport, I just love being able to compete every day and [attend] practice and games,” said Carrara.
Carrara looks to continue his football career in college.
