During the season, sports teams practice together day after day and compete on a regular basis. But for most teams, that is not where their time and commitment to the team ends.

According to junior Katelyn Rossback, it is important to spend time with one’s team.

“Bonding with teammates is a good thing because it helps you perform better,” Rossback said.

Every sports team has a different way of bonding.

Rossback said female members of the cross country team spend time together outside of school and practice.

“We have sleepovers and the girls hang out and the boys hang out,” Rossback said. “We also have fun runs where we run on the beach and play Frisbee after because Frisbee is one of our favorite activities.”

Cross country coach Doug Landrum said they participate in a variety of activities together.

“We play Ultimate Frisbee and disc golf, but we also have fun practices where we run at the beach or Tugman and workout and hangout afterward and eat food and sometimes swim,” Landrum said.

Landrum said he spends a lot of time with his team throughout the year.

“I spend about 11-12 months with the true distance runners, which are the ones who run cross country in the fall, practice running in the winter and run distance in track in the spring,” Landrum said.

Junior Gabby Bryant, a member of the varsity volleyball team for two years, said she also believes it is important to bond with teammates.

“We always go to someone’s house and have team dinners the night before a game and that’s good bonding time,” Bryant said.

Bryant said fun memories are made during team dinners.

“One time last year there was a team dinner at my house and my table was decorated with candles and someone put a napkin on top of a candle on accident and caught my table on fire,” Bryant said.

Volleyball coach Tammie Montiel said outside of the regular season the girls in her program  play club volleyball to play together more often.

“About half of the girls play club volleyball after season and that is from about December to April,” Montiel said. “The girls also get together with their parents during season to plan team dinners so they can spend a little time together off the court, and they also scrimmage local teams for more play time.”

The cheer team has its own traditions for bringing members together.

According to CeAndra Nelson, the cheer team bonds by hanging out and they also spend extra time together so they do not have any drama. Otherwise, according to Nelson, coach Kallie Mill makes them run the Harding stairs. They also participate in “secret sisters.”

“For secret sisters you draw a name of a teammate and you have that person for the season and you leave them little gifts throughout the season and at the end of the season you tell them you had them,” Nelson said.

Members of the football team are bonding while reaching out to the community as well. They are offering a camp to teach little kids how to play football. Coach Josh Line said they are doing it for the kids in the community.

“It is a youth football camp for grades kindergarten through seventh and it’s designed for kids to come down to the field and have fun working on skills,” Line said.

Heading into the summer Pirate athletes will continue to spend time together training, raising money and enjoying their sports together.