Student athletes want to be the best at what they do and, according to junior track athlete Hunter Drops, practice is key. Participating in club sports outside of regular season is one way to receive additional practice.
“Doing Pre-Track Club just gives me more time to work on javelin and pole vault and just improve my marks because with those events you just have to practice as much as you can because they as so technical,” Drops said. “Pre-Track Club allows me to do that throughout the summer.”
According to Drops, working on something year-round can be very taxing on the body, but the end result is worth the pain.
“The only downfall I see is kids just get tired out from doing it for so long,” Drops said. “I went from summer track to preseason track to regular season back into summer track, and it takes a toll on your body.”
There are many clubs within and outside the community to help student athletes grow better at what they do. There is a club team for almost every sport.
Some athletes travel to Eugene or even further multiple times a week just to practice on a club team. For example, junior Hailee Woolsey travels to Eugene twice a week just to practice on a volleyball team called Webfoot.
Woolsey said the club faces challenging opponents and won the regional tournament last year. The club competes in tournaments all around the country, including in Las Vegas and Chicago.
Woolsey also played volleyball for the local club volleyball team Pirate V.B.C., which allows athletes from all around the area to improve their skills as volleyball players.
“Playing club volleyball is a big reason I have improved because I played up to a higher level during last club season,” Woolsey said.
According to Woolsey, doing a club sport can also take up a lot of time.
“It is time consuming and can interfere with school sports so it is hard to balance everything,” Woolsey said.
Head volleyball coach Tammy Montiel said around half of her athletes play club volleyball.
“It helps them improve because it keeps the ball in their hands more. They are probably only practicing once or twice a week, but it keeps them playing with the ball,” Montiel said. “Because there is a big gap in between seasons where athletes could lose a lot of their skills, it helps them improve as an athlete.”
Montiel said athletes should not pick up a club sport and a school sport, which should be the priority during that season.
“I think if an athlete had to choose between a club sport and a school sport there is a downfall there, but the club volleyball team tries to work around those school sports and lets them know that is the priority,” Montiel said.
According to head basketball coach Doug Miles, many of his athletes participate in club basketball.
“I don’t want kids to do a club sport at the detriment of other school sports but there is a lot of benefit to playing a sport outside of season because you get coached by different coaches and you see different competition,” Miles said.
Miles said improving out of season is essential to being a better player.
“You can’t just play during the season because the season has almost just turned into winning games. It’s no longer focused on individual improvement, whereas AAU summer camps and all of those types of things are focused on individual improvement,” Miles said.
According to Miles, athletes put themselves at risk by overplaying a sport.
“Athletes have to be careful with over-use because they might get burnt out,” Miles said. “There is also large benefit from getting away from a sport for a while.”
Drops agreed the payoff benefits him greatly as an athlete. Drops holds the freshman record in the pole vault and the javelin and is someday hoping to break the school record.
“It takes a lot of pain and time to get better, but it is more than worth it,” Drops said.
