By Maire Crooks, The Current Co-Editor in Chief
The beginning of summer is quickly approaching, which means one thing for fall sports athletes: summer training commences.
The fall high-school sports season consists of seven sports: cheer, cross country, field hockey, golf, football, soccer, and volleyball, but not all teams have the same philosophy in regards to summer practices.
Historically, River Hill’s boys and girls cross country team has been very diligent throughout the scorching-hot months. The team can be spotted on the RHHS blacktop every day of the week, excluding Sundays, preparing for their upcoming season. Although they have a new set of coaches, Coach Chad Boothe and Coach Emily Hazzard, this upcoming summer work looks to be no different.
The team offers an 8am morning practice and a 7pm evening captains’ practice to attempt to accommodate everyone’s busy schedules; the times are very early and late to avoid the midday heat. Summer training is typically led by captains, as coaches cannot interact with athletes before the season starts. Dani Chng, a freshman runner, expresses that summer practices are “important because [they] allow people to meet before the actual season starts… you get to know everyone ahead of time and make friends. [They] also let people get a sense of what the actual season will be like without having to officially join the team.”
Although slightly less frequent than cross country does, girls soccer utilizes their summer to improve their skills as well. Mia Duffy, a sophomore who has played both of her years at River Hill, explains that captains’ practice is once-a-week beginning Wednesday, June 1st, switching to twice-a-week in July.
In June, Wednesday practice is focused on improving fitness, “which consists of a lot of running,” mentions Julia Purdue, a Varsity soccer player. The conditioning continues until tryouts, but in July, the girls also participate in an unofficial summer league. In August, the conditioning increases to 2-3 times per week, and the RHHS Boosters camp, which is run by Coach Brian Song, is the cherry-on-top to a summer of hard work.
Golf, on the other hand, has very informal summer practices; the team merely has a meeting on the first day of tryouts, August 10th. “We just have a small group of girls who text each other when we are going to go out [and play],” articulates Julia Baek, a sophomore golf player.
Multiple fall sports teams are actively recruiting for the upcoming season. If one walks down the River Hill hallways, JV football recruitment posters can be spotted dotting the walls, containing messages such as “We want YOU for JV football.”
Other groups have held interest meetings before summer training begins. Cross country planned to hold their meeting on June 1st, but it was canceled and slides with the material was sent out to athletes. The fall cheer team held their session on Tuesday, June 7th. Interest meetings are used to recruit new athletes, convey training information, and unify the team before the season launches.
Summer training can make-or-break a fall season for many athletes, so as school comes to a close, we wish all of the athletes the best of luck with their endeavors.