Springing into sports: practices in full swing for athletes

Caroline Barger

More stories from Caroline Barger

Dan Park, varsity softball coach

How do you feel about this year looking at tryouts?
Disappointed. A little disappointed that we didn’t have more numbers than we did. I’d like to see more girls come out. Not that I have a great desire to cut people but that’s what this program needs. Until we can get 35-40 girls trying out and really pushing the players that do come out, it’s gonna be hard.

What are you excited about for this year?
The group that we have. I think we have good incoming freshmen. I think we have good senior leadership.

 

Mark George, varsity baseball coach

What are you looking to change this year?
I would say one thing this year that would be really important is to try to build confidence with our players and also build a positive environment that relieves tension and anxiety amongst my players.

What kinds of things do you look for in an athlete?
It is important that they have pretty good character. However that doesn’t mean they’re gonna have good character initially, so we try
to develop that out of them.

 

Nick Sisson, varsity boys tennis coach

What kinds of things do you look for in an athlete?
Athletes have to be mentally tough first in order to succeed in tennis. Fast and strong is good too, but mentally tough is most important.

What is your favorite part about tennis?
The best part about coaching tennis is watching the kids exceed their own expectations….and bringing home state trophies.

 

Joanie Pauls, varsity boys golf coach

How do you feel about this year looking at tryouts?
We have our two top players back (Seniors Max Brenneman and Tanner Pauls). They have both played varsity since they were freshmen and qualified for state the past two years. They will be our leaders on the team. We have some returning part-time varsity and JV players who are trying to earn one of the final three spots. We have to work on avoiding penalties and improving our course management if we are to be successful.

 

Tad Remsberg, varsity track coach

What kinds of things do you look for in an athlete?
We are in a pretty good position with being PE teachers; a lot of times we can pick out the more athletic kids just watching them warm up and that kind of thing, so that’s where we kind of pick out our athletes.

What do you see in this group of kids that is different than other years?
I think this year more so than other years, it’s pretty early, but just the camaraderie. We have kids that genuinely like each other, some years we don’t have that.

 

Scott Jantzi, varsity girls soccer coach

What is the tryout process that your players have to go through?
We have been conditioning since after the Christmas break, so we can tell who would be in shape for the varsity level. We also look at the skill and confidence on the ball each player has. You can see the difference in a player that has been playing competitively to someone who is out for the social aspect.

 

Kim Powell, varsity girls swim coach

What are you looking to bring to the program?
The girls team is very successful. We need to maintain that and if not make it better; they tend to win league each year and we want to continue that tradition. I would like to see us always be in the top ten at state and if we could be in the top five that would be great.

How do you feel about this year looking at tryouts?
Really good. We have a really positive group of girls, they are encouraging to one another. We have a good core group of girls and we have a lot of first time swimmers out also which is fabulous. I’m so excited because their times always drop the fastest at the beginning.