Sounds of the fitness center — chatter, weights lifting

During the weeks before their official season started, members of the boys basketball team trained three times a week in the fitness center after school.

Many U-High sports teams offer various preseason activities, and the pressure on student athletes to attend these varies depending on the sports team and the athlete’s motivation.

Sounds of basketball bouncing

For boys basketball preseason, ninth grader Xavier Fisher was glad to have the opportunity to participate in a fall league every Sunday as well as the preseason training after school. 

Xavier Fisher: “The fall league was a good opportunity, to as a freshman, know and get acclimated to the speed of the high school basketball game, and the training three times a week was a good way to, I mean, a good way to get acclimated with the team and increase my strength and speed and basketball skills before the season.”

He felt that the after school preseason training, while listed as optional, felt slightly mandatory to him. However, Xavier wanted to participate because he was determined to prepare himself effectively for team tryouts. 

Xavier Fisher: “I definitely put some pressure on myself to attend it, because I wanted to put my best foot forward in terms of trying out for the team.”

Basketball sounds

During the same weeks, the girls basketball team also had preseason practices one to two times a week. Sophomore Victoria Syverson participated in the majority of these practices. 

Victoria Syverson: “I thought it would be a good idea to help prepare for the basketball season, and, um, some of them my friends were going to, and it’s just fun to do that with my friends.”

The girls basketball preseason practices were also labeled as optional, but Victoria said that there was some pressure to attend them, especially for student athletes who may not have been active during the offseason.

Victoria Syverson: “It didn’t feel mandatory, but I feel like it was very recommended, because personally I don’t do a sport in the fall, so I think it would have been a good idea to help prepare for the basketball season ahead of time so I can really be on my A-game when the season starts.”

Sounds of water splashing in a swimming pool

The pressure to attend preseason practice for the boys swim team was even higher, with the team practicing during most of Thanksgiving break in preparation for their first day of official practice on Dec. 2. Senior Sebastain Gans said these practices are mainly mandatory, and that he felt pressure to attend them. 

Sebastain Gans: “I feel like it’s usually, like, out of the athlete’s control because usually their parents are organizing when they are having breaks or going on vacation, […] but I feel like I definitely try to stay in town, because you kind of do feel a commitment to make the practices, because if other guys on the team are going to practice, you also want to go as well.”

Like Xavier and Victoria, Sebastian feels that in addition to the physical preparation for the season, the preseason adds a lot to the team dynamic. 

Sebastain Gans: “I think it’s definitely helpful, because it, like, gets in a little team bonding before our season actually starts when we get into school, and it kind of gets the ball rolling before everything kind of goes into motion.”

During his four years on the swim team, Sebastian only missed the preseason once, which added difficulty that year. 

Sebastain Gans: “I think I definitely did feel behind. Especially with swimming, when you miss practice it’s really hard to get back into it.”

Like Sebastian experienced the one year he missed preseason, Xavier has observed a similar loss in his teammates who missed boys basketball preseason.

Xavier Fisher: “Definitely going into tryouts and the first few practices, I would say they probably missed a lot of time to get into shape and condition for playing basketball again, but I would say for the most part, a lot of players did attend it, who were, you know, serious about playing.”

Sounds of the fitness center

As winter athletes continue their season and see the results of their preseason dedication, spring athletes are preparing to start their own training.

Reporting for the U-High Midway, this is Jaya Alenghat.