Christmas is an exciting time, but winter athletes have to stay locked in throughout the season.
“I would say Break practices are a little bit harder and focus more on conditioning. It is broken into four parts. It is a 30-minute warm-up, a 30-minute technique section, a 30-minute hard drill, and a 30-minute live session. Live is going as hard as you can when wrestling like it is a match,” senior Michael Schrader said.
While male wrestlers have regular practices, the female wrestlers are on a different schedule.
“A regular practice for me is always good because it is after school and I am in a good mood. I am excited to see my teammates after a long day of school, but Break practices feel so hard. After not doing it every day, I get out of the flow, feel dizzy, and can not think straight, but what motivates me is getting my hand raised after a match. It is comforting knowing there are people around me that work just as hard and want the same thing,” freshman Jorja Carroll said.
The female basketball players usually have hard practices as well, but their teammates help them get through it.
“During the break, we have more intense and upbeat practices, but we are more rested because we are not going to school. It is easier to get through because basketball is always a good time. The girls are so fun. It goes by fast whenever we all work hard. The first week of Break we have a couple of games and practices. Then, the second week we have a few days of rest before we get back to work,” sophomore Addison Lipp said.
Sophomore Joey Ortman is in the same boat.
“Break practices often have more energy because people are not tired from having school all day, so the intensity is higher. It is harder, but my teammates keep me motivated. We all want to work together to get better all the time. We are on track to be great this year,” Ortman, basketball player, said.
Practice is essential during Winter Break, but so are fun festivities with their teams.
“Since this is the first year with an established girls wrestling team, we do not have traditions set in stone yet. I am sure we will do something this year because we hang out outside of practice anyway. It will be a fun bonding experience and a way for all of us to get into the Christmas spirit,” Carroll said.
The girls basketball team has been around for quite a while, so they already have their plans.
“We have a Christmas party at Coach Kreimer’s house after practice. We all bring brunch food for a pitch-in. This is also when we exchange our Secret Santa gifts. It is a fun-filled day for us to finally relax before going into the holidays,” Lipp said.
The swim team has some of the same traditions.
“We usually do a Christmas gift exchange between the boys and girls teams. We hang out a lot outside of practice on a regular basis, so we do not do much for actual Christmas traditions. We spend more time together since we do not have school to worry about,” junior Maria Mears said.
