Isabel Hetherington
Reporter
As the sun starts to warm the chilly winter air, student athletes are preparing for the spring sports season. But can athletes just go straight into a season? What does it take to be prepared for a spring sport?
For sophomore Christina Donovan, a lacrosse player, it was mostly physical conditioning. “I’ve been running a lot in Waveny for the past few weeks to prepare, as well as doing some stick skills,” she said.
Athletic Director Jay Egan notes that it’s important for athletes to go into the season being physically fit, “In general strength and conditioning is something athletes should think about,” he said. “Cardiorespiratory fitness and core strength development are good for anyone in any sport.”
Some students start preparing for their sports in the winter by joining track to build up speed and endurance. “To prepare for lacrosse, I did winter track to get in shape for the season and all of the running that the sport requires,” freshman lacrosse player Mike Schulte said.
According to Mr. Egan, “It’s common for athletes to participate in track when not in season.”
Although physical conditioning is important, some players, like sophomore Chris Thorkilsen, also look to solidify their sport’s mechanics. “On Tuesday and Thursday I go to Bobby Valentine’s [an athletic training facility dedicated to coaching players in baseball and softball]to work on different mechanics like hitting and to also build up strength and speed with running,” he said.
Most sports at the high school have optional preseasons to help athletes prepare for the season. For baseball, the preseason consists of one week of conditioning and one week of mechanics. “The first week is known to be physically tasking,” Chris said, “Preseason is not something that I’m looking forward to, I just want to get through it,”
Christina also finds that lacrosse preseason, run by physical trainer Meghan Hoffman, is strenuous, “Preseason is really difficult and exhuasting, but it’s pretty much mandatory if you want to make the team,” she said.
Even though most athletes who play a sport with a preseason opt to participate in it, it is not required. “We have told coaches that players don’t make the team in preseason practices. March 19 is the first day that sports are allowed to practice. And ultimately coaches believe that the best players should play” Mr. Egan said.
Girls’ lacrosse coach, Kristin Wood, knows that preseason is not required, but she still recommends it. “Preseason’s purpose is just meant to prepare athletes for the season. If you’re only picking up a stick from March 19 through June 19, you probably won’t have as successful as a year,” she said.
While other spring sports like golf, track, and tennis don’t have a preseason, athletes still prepare in various other ways. “Since I’m recently recovering from a back injury, I’ve been doing privates and playing with people after school to get ready for tryouts,” said sophomore tennis player Jackie Millisits.
No matter if it is throwing a ball with friends, going on runs, or taking private tennis lessons, all players agree it is important that athletes come prepared to preform their best at tryouts. “People need to practice for the spring season because if you don’t prepare in the off season, you won’t be prepared for when the season starts,” said freshman baseball player Matthew DeMattia.
“People who start training before the season have an edge up and those who don’t are much less prepared,” said Chris.
Since the spring season is not very long, it is important that students are already in good shape once the season begins. “Especially in girls lacrosse, you need to be physically fit for the season, since it’s so short and we don’t have as much time to focus on conditioning,” Coach Wood said.
