Once school is out for the summer, one would think that all student athletes get a break from school work as well as from practicing. However, this is not the case. It has become a trend lately in high school athletics for students to be practicing their respective sports all year around, even if they are in season for a different one.
For example, although girl’s basketball is a winter sport, the team has open gym practices once the season ends all the way through May and also has summer league games and additional practices throughout the summer, according to the team schedule available in the activities office. Another sport that practices all summer is girl’s volleyball. According to their schedule, also on file in the activities office, they too have practices starting as early as June. Whatever happened to the days when three sport athletes participated in one sport a season? RRHS’s athletic director, Jeffrey Schultz is of the opinion that it started as a game of monkey-see, monkey-do.
“In my opinion, coaches saw teams that did things like have practices and camps during the summer, and then saw that these teams were successful. They then decided this must be the best way for them to have a successful team, and so the coaches began to model their programs around summer training,” Schultz said. The head boy’s soccer coach at RRHS, Kevin Zerbey, is of a different mind.
“During the ‘50s and ‘60s, it was more of the play to play and play because it was fun. At some point, whether it was the ‘80s or ‘90s, society changed to having the need to always win, be the best, get the scholarship, and so kids would have to give up their summers to play and practice their sports,” Zerbey said. Both Schultz and Zerbey agree on the point that practicing during the summer or all year around has both benefits and downsides. Both believe it is good for kids to be active and involved in something, but if they are playing to the point of burning out or going a little too hard they need to give their bodies a break.
Sophomore Jesse Hoffman is a three-sport athlete who can also see both sides of the issue. Hoffman plays football in the fall and runs track in the spring; he is also on the school basketball team in the winter, although he plays basketball all year long.
“I play basketball all year because I really like it, and it keeps me in shape,” Hoffman said. Hoffman also admitted that he never takes a break from his sports unless he is injured, because in his words, “they all run together.” During the last football season he pulled his deltoid when he got hit and then re-injured it during basketball through shooting. Though Hoffman thinks there is nothing wrong with practicing all year, and even recommends it to others to stay in shape, he did voice one doubt.
“If I would have had a break, I probably would not have gotten hurt,” Hoffman said. A junior cross country and track runner and basketball player, Tim Gibbons, also recently came to the conclusion that time off would have saved him from a lot of time spent on the injured list.
“In 10th grade, I had a knee problem that was basically the result of overuse and now I have two stress fractures that I have had since track last year,” Gibbons said of his various sports related health problems. He realizes that even though he enjoyed his time spent playing on multiple soccer, baseball, and basketball teams when he was younger, it is all catching up to him now.
“My body is overused, and it is starting to break down,” Gibbons said. Before his sophomore year cross country season Gibbons had never taken a break from sports. Thinking back on his sports participation when he was younger, Gibbons only wishes he’d been more aware of how to take care of his body.
“I for sure could have prevented some of my injuries if I’d known proper stretching techniques, and the benefits of ice and resting,” Gibbons said. He also thinks he maybe should not have played “a billion sports” at a time.
Senior swimmer Brett Thomas has also suffered injuries throughout his athletic career and like Gibbons, realizes now that they could have been prevented if he had taken better care of his body.
“I had a stress fracture in my lower back that I had to take eight months off for, and I also have tendonitis in both of my shoulders. If I would have stretched more, taken care of my body by eating right and watching how many days I was practicing, I probably could have prevented it,” Thomas said. He trains six days a week with two-a-days three days each week during the season. The only breaks he took were two weeks off in the spring and fall when he was transitioning between seasons. Thomas said he believes that the practices for high school athletes should not be quite as long and intense as they are currently.
Freshman Morgan Berg has just had her first experience with practicing with sports teams over the summer. Berg is also a three-sport athlete, participating in soccer, basketball, and track.
“I usually had a break during the summer because nothing is going on then, but this year I played soccer and basketball for most of it,” Berg said. Though Berg was fine with her summer consisting of various soccer and basketball games and practices, she did find one aspect of it hard to deal with.
“Sometimes there are conflicts. and then it is hard to choose which to go to so I would pick the opick the one that’s season was closer,” Berg said. This led her to choosing soccer over basketball several times, because soccer is technically a fall sport and basketball a winter one. She agrees with Hoffman on the point of the different seasons all running together.
“In eighth grade, I played indoor soccer during basketball season and then played outdoor soccer during the track season in the spring,” Berg said. The two also agreed on the fact that they play their respective sports during different seasons because they enjoy them. But, when does too much get to be too much?
The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) has thought of this and has made rules regarding sports practices in the summer and during other sports seasons, according to Schultz. One rule is coaches are allowed only 10 contact days during the summer. Contact days are defined by the OHSAA as anytime spent coaching athletes. It is up to the individual coaches how they wish to use their 10 days, with practices, camps, or competitions. Another rule of the OHSAA is that nothing during the summer can be made mandatory.
However, as with just about every other rule, there are ways to get around them. For example, one rule states that coaches must have a period of 30 no contact days after a season ends, and to get around it, if they want their athletes lifting weights, RRHS has an adult who works in the weight room so individual coaches do not need to be there. In a survey conducted by The Pirate Press, of 107 student athletes, 72 percent responded that they feel they are required to attend non-mandatory, off-season practices.
“At the high school, coaches discourage playing with a different high school team during another sport’s season, though we do recognize that we have no control over such things outside the school, such as premiere soccer leagues,” Schultz said. Board of Education President Scott Swartz agrees that this is the way to guard against athletes burning out and becoming too busy during the summer.
“The high school does a pretty good job of allowing students to participate in all the sports they would like to. The way to keep summer schedules from being overdone and keeping multi-sport athletes from getting injured is to have the coaches coordinate and allow for breaks,” Swartz said. However, 43 percent of student athletes of the same 107 surveyed above have admitted to having had to miss a vacation because of sports-related activities. Swartz had attended a meeting of the Student Activities Council, which consists of parents, coaches and administrators, to voice his opinion. One coach who does take other sports and coaches into account is Zerbey.
“I feel that it is good for kids to be involved in something. If my athletes choose to play on the basketball team over indoor soccer that’s fine with me, just as long as they are staying active and being fit,” Zerbey said.
The final opinion is left up to the individual. Each athlete must weigh the benefits against the risks and decide for themselves.
the one that’s season was closer,” Berg said. This led her to choosing soccer over basketball several times, because soccer is technically a fall sport and basketball a winter one. She agrees with Hoffman on the point of the different seasons all running together.
“In eighth grade, I played indoor soccer during basketball season and then played outdoor soccer during the track season in the spring,” Berg said. The two also agreed on the fact that they play their respective sports during different seasons because they enjoy them. But, when does too much get to be too much?
The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) has thought of this and has made rules regarding sports practices in the summer and during other sports seasons, according to Schultz. One rule is coaches are allowed only 10 contact days during the summer. Contact days are defined by the OHSAA as anytime spent coaching athletes. It is up to the individual coaches how they wish to use their 10 days, with practices, camps, or competitions. Another rule of the OHSAA is that nothing during the summer can be made mandatory.
However, as with just about every other rule, there are ways to get around them. For example, one rule states that coaches must have a period of 30 no contact days after a season ends, and to get around it, if they want their athletes lifting weights, RRHS has an adult who works in the weight room so individual coaches do not need to be there. In a survey conducted by The Pirate Press, of 107 student athletes, 72 percent responded that they feel they are required to attend non-mandatory, off-season practices.
“At the high school, coaches discourage playing with a different high school team during another sport’s season, though we do recognize that we have no control over such things outside the school, such as premiere soccer leagues,” Schultz said. Board of Education President Scott Swartz agrees that this is the way to guard against athletes burning out and becoming too busy during the summer.
“The high school does a pretty good job of allowing students to participate in all the sports they would like to. The way to keep summer schedules from being overdone and keeping multi-sport athletes from getting injured is to have the coaches coordinate and allow for breaks,” Swartz said. However, 43 percent of student athletes of the same 107 surveyed above have admitted to having had to miss a vacation because of sports-related activities. Swartz had attended a meeting of the Student Activities Council, which consists of parents, coaches and administrators, to voice his opinion. One coach who does take other sports and coaches into account is Zerbey.
“I feel that it is good for kids to be involved in something. If my athletes choose to play on the basketball team over indoor soccer that’s fine with me, just as long as they are staying active and being fit,” Zerbey said.
The final opinion is left up to the individual. Each athlete must weigh the benefits against the risks and decide for themselves.