Athletes Required to Practice over Winter Break

Charlie Niber, Head Sports Editor

Winter break means spending time with family and having the opportunity to rest, and for athletes…practice. Despite being on break, winter athletes were still required to come into school for practice. Both girls and boys basketball had practice the morning of Christmas Eve. 

     Athletes for all sports are expected to devote most of their time to their team and improving their skills, but their commitment requires rest and time away from the game they love. Winter sport coaches used winter break to gather their teams and host practices over break. Having practice over winter break exemplifies the meaning of “burning out on the thing you love to do the most.” 

     The winter basketball season stretches from November to February and has practice five times a week, unless there is a game that night. The season keeps the athletes very busy and restricts time for other extracurricular activities. “As soon as the season begins, most of my time is spent on the court or in the classroom looking at film. I wish we had winter break off because it would let me rest and prepare for the second half of the season.” Senior Drew Tapscott said. “I wish we were able to spend the break with our families and take some time away from the game.” Tapscott said. 

     Both girls and boys had mandatory practice on Christmas Eve or else playing time would be limited in the next game. Christmas Eve is listed as a national holiday and nearly all workers have the day off to themselves. “It’s a national holiday and we are required to come into school. If there was one thing I would change about the schedule, it would most definitely be the priorities that us athletes have. I get our coaches want us to improve as a team, but as the only school in the county to have practice on Christmas Eve, I think it’s a little extra.” Said senior Jonathan Keen. 

     “Hopefully the program focuses on scheduling for the next few years because I know from the beginning of the season, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like having to come in on Christmas Eve or winter break in general,” junior Joey Shull said. 

     The winter break will hopefully give athletes a break in the near future as many athletes have spoken out about their feelings towards them. There shouldn’t be any practice over break as athletes should have the time to rest.