As the temperature begins to drop and students start counting the days until winter break, athletes start counting the days until winter tryouts begin. Preparing themselves for the rush of tryouts, excitement bursts through the gyms, pools, and weight rooms as students await the decision of earning a spot on the team they want to play for.

From Nov. 6 to 14, students came in before school, stayed after school, and even came in on a school holiday for tryouts for the basketball, cheer, gymnastics, swim, track, and/or wrestling teams. Although tryouts varied from sport to sport, in general, they included stretching and warm-ups, and then repetitions of various drills, skills, and/or plays.

Many athletes returned to teams that they had previously played for. Senior Kyle Desai has been playing basketball since the 5th grade and has been on the Phoenix basketball team since his freshman year. “Growing up, I’ve always loved sports,” Desai said. “I’ve played sports my whole life. I played soccer, I played flag football, and then when I played basketball, I really fell in love with it. I enjoyed [going to] the court everyday, so I just continued doing [basketball], and it’s always been fun.”

Others, like freshman Camille Conner, are just starting out in the world of high school sports. “Tryouts [for basketball] were definitely hard,” Conner said. “[At the same time], it was pretty easy. I knew I would’ve gotten, at least, onto [the] freshman [team]. I practiced a lot, like two to three hours a day, and [my brother] would play basketball with me and help me do my drills.”

Overall, athletes, managers, and coaches are ready and hopeful for what’s to come. “I think we’re going to have a good season,” boys basketball coach Jason Geyer said. “[The team] is still pretty young, but we play really well together, and everybody plays their role.”

Athletes have also set specific goals for themselves and their teams. For Desai and the boys basketball team, this means focusing on defense. And for Conner, this means developing her shooting form. 

Winter tryouts might have ended, but it’s just the beginning for all the student athletes participating in the winter season.

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Dayanna Anton

Sitting on a mat, prospective gymnasts stretch while facing each other in a circle on Nov. 9. Gymnastics didn’t have actual “tryouts,” as anyone can make the team, so the time athletes met was mainly spent showing the coaches what skills they can do. This year is sophomore Sienna Fehlmann’s second year doing gymnastics. “[This season] will probably go better than last year because we have a little more people,” Fehlmann said. “And, the people [from last year] got better over the break.” Last season was the first time gymnastics returned after the pandemic. So, Fehlmann said, there were “a lot of beginners.”