The winter season is just around the corner and officially begins on December 21st. This means that it is now time to think about winter sports at Granada High School! Our winter sports and tryouts have embarked on a treacherous journey of nerve-racking practices and excruciating physical challenges for the next couple of months. Winter sports include boys and girls basketball, soccer, and wrestling. Although the amount of winter sports compared to Spring and fall sports is very bare the quantity of students who try out and participate is well over exceeding. While basketball and soccer have tryouts there is no such thing for wrestling.
The majority of high school sports include a freshman, junior varsity, and varsity team however there are a handful of sports that are unable to form a freshman team as there can be fewer participants in this grade particularly. Freshman athletes are eligible for all teams, sophomores are accepted onto JV (junior varsity) and varsity, and finally, seniors are only allowed to make varsity. Students who have participated in a varsity sport for a full season receive a letter to put on varsity jackets to display their hard work.
Basketball – Boys
Boys basketball tryouts began just a couple of weeks ago and have recently came to an end. The tryout schedule was very much up in the air due to the boys’ football season not yet ending; this is significant because many basketball players are participating in the football team and those wanting to try out need to find separate times to do so while communicating with the coaches. This year’s boys basketball season consists of three teams, freshman, JV, and varsity. The head coaches are Coach Q Johnson, Coach Evan, and Assistant Coach Dave.
Sincere Butler is a sophomore at Granada who tried out for this year’s boys’ basketball team and made JV. Sincere states, “I wasn’t nervous because I know what I can do on the court, I just think of it as a regular practice.” He continues to say, “Kevin Durant has always been inspiring for me and he made me love this sport.” The mindset that Sincere has demonstrated seemed to be the main idea for many other student-athletes going into tryouts. He further explains that he hopes to continue his athletic career beyond high school. When considering playing sports after high school, recruitment is a great way to embark on this path. Not only does recruitment allow an athlete to continue to practice but gets them into a good college. Scholarships and recruitment can mean fully paid tuition for athletes which in many cases is extremely helpful.
Basketball – Girls
Girls basketball tryouts went from Monday, October 30, to Thursday, November 2, in Granada’s big gym. The teams include JV and varsity. Kris Birco is the head coach of the girls’ basketball team along with coaches Nick, Steve, and Mark. Girls’ tryouts included many technical and fundamental drills as well as many cardiovascular exercises to further test their athletic abilities. The practices would typically end with scrimmages for an overall evaluation. Sophomore Katie Vaile who tried out has made the girls’ varsity basketball team; she states “I was really nervous because I was unsure what team I was going to make. I was on the verge of JV and varsity.”
Sophomores and juniors can only either make JV or varsity, having these two options leads to lots of contemplation for many high school athletes. Katie continues to say, “I like to emphasize intensity, motivation, and energy at tryouts because these small things can change the environment positively even if there are many mistakes being made.”
Katie’s approach to tryouts was uplifting and high energy. All athletes experience different techniques and learning experiences during their athletic careers, some may feel the need to display their speed while others their technical abilities. Overall this is a safe and efficient strategy to impress the coaches. Head coach Kris Birco stands by the saying “Know your job, do your role.” This philosophy stands strong with many other athletic coaches. Understanding your place in a team sport is a fundamental step in becoming a committed and successful athlete, especially when you are taking a sport to another level of seriousness.
Soccer – Girls
Girls soccer tryouts followed girls basketball tryouts just a day later taking place in Granada’s stadium field. Girls soccer consists of three teams: freshman, JV, and varsity. The first day of tryouts began on Friday, November 3, this day was exclusively for the freshman girls. After a weekend break, Monday, November 6, began the first day of tryouts for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The next three days up until November 9 all grades tried out. During tryouts each player received a paper sticker with a designated number to attach to their arm, this allowed coaches to spot and track particular players that had potential for a place on the team. Saskia Bley, who tried out and made the JV soccer team as a goalie, states, “I think the biggest thing is attitude because that really makes or breaks the decision. It doesn’t matter how good of a player you are, if you have a bad attitude coaches don’t want you on their team.”
When it comes to sports that require you to try out it is important to note that a good portion of decisions come from how you interact with your potential teammates. A good person makes up many of the qualities of a successful athlete. The tryouts consisted of many scrimmages small and large and sprinting trials along with technical passing drills. Each drill was designed to give the girls an opportunity to put forth their best techniques and qualities, especially their speed which appears to be an important trait coaches look for in athletes.
Soccer – Boys
Boys soccer tryouts took place the week of November 6 on days Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. During these days the boys played in many game-like situations with a lesser amount of smaller technical drills. Sophomore Max Frank who made Granada’s JV soccer team expands on his experience, “I have tried out previously and had a lot of fun, this year I was not nervous at all for tryouts.”
It appears evident that athletes who have been practicing their sport for a longer time are more confident in their abilities to perform well. This type of confidence will show during tryouts and is what coaches look for, Max states, “Coaches look for people who have knowledge of the game and someone with determination.” This important tip is very much a key point in impressing any coach. It is fundamental to understand the game you are playing in order to perform to the best of your abilities; this paired with a sense of determination can make you an above-average athlete.
Wrestling
Unlike basketball or soccer, wrestling has no tryouts. At Granada, this sport contains no set of trials or practices in order to play for the school. Granada’s athletic director Mr. Moore states, “Wrestling has no tryouts because this is a sport where you can come in and learn new things. It’s really about teaching people how to wrestle. This doesn’t mean no cuts, because you still have to commit yourself to the sport and show up to do the work.”
The main idea of wrestling at Granada is that students can come in and learn a new sport without being chosen to be on the team, this allows athletes to participate in a wider range of physical activities. Mr. Moore continues to say, “There’s many reasons why basketball and soccer have tryouts to make the team, one of them being there’s a limited number of uniforms.” Tryouts and cuts also depend on the capacity of athletes willing to participate, because of this coaches can change how they put together their teams every year. When a sport struggles to get enough people on their team this is when tryouts become more of a disadvantage than an advantage.
