Written by Cory Sparks, Sports Editor
The ringing of the final buzzer diminishes into the air. The whistle of the referee pierces through the wind, and the last game of the year is called to a close. An umpire calls strike three on the last at bat of the far too young season.
You are drenched in sweat, sore to the bone, and out of breath as you come to the realization that another year of games and tournaments has ended.
Indian Trail High School & Academy has several organized team sports that play at different times throughout the year, all of which endure the end of their respective seasons.
However, what separates the good players from the great players is when their official training ends.
Various students elaborate on the importance of consistent offseason training from the end of one season to the beginning of the next.
“Most high school seasons are only a few months of the year and it’s really hard to make big improvements on skills in such a short time,” said Sindhu Shankar, a Medical Sciences Academy senior who plays varsity girls tennis. “I think it’s really important to train hard during the rest of the year so that during the few months of the high school season, I can play my best.”
If an athlete doesn’t train in the offseason, the team immediately suffers in terms of productivity due to the regression that occurs when the muscles aren’t trained for a long period of time.
“If you don’t train in the preseason, you’re not going to come back the way you left off. You have to work back up to it which wastes time in the end,” said Mackenzie Carroll, General Studies senior who plays varsity girls soccer.
Training can’t be something that just happens once or twice a week though. The frequency needs to be of high quantity.
If one trains and it’s not in a routine fashion, the regression will end up superseding progression in the end. Scarcity is not the answer here.
“I train four, sometimes five days a week in the mornings before school,” said AJ Allessio, Medical Sciences Academy senior who recently committed to playing football for University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
If the quantity of days that an athlete trains starts to diminish, the athlete’s body will most likely pay for it in the long run.
“If you practice or work out every day, you know your limits,” said Carroll. “Stretching also helps so you don’t hurt yourself.”
Something else to note here is that there is no general blueprint that all athletes should follow step by step. Each athlete comes with his or her own specifications and needs.
But international experts in the field of fitness recommend the need to put specific elements first.
The International Youth Conditioning Association places fundamental movement as the top priority for all youth athletes who are training, followed by general fitness and sport-specific skills.
Additionally, nutrition should be just as much of a priority as all of the fitness activities. When nutrition is thrown out the window, so are the results that an athlete expects to see from their training.
“You can’t just eat junk food because your body can’t use and process it as well as normal carbs and protein,” said Allessio. “Eating after a workout to replenish your muscles is just as important as the actual workout.”
Students see training in the offseason as a lesson that can benefit both their play on the field and their everyday lives.
“This is something that I feel like I can translate to the rest of my life, I can work to keep my mental picture clear and stay calm in stressful situations,” said Shankar.