After the final whistle, point, or horn of the season, some think of it as the end of their sport’s season. However, for other Spartan athletes it’s just the beginning.

With practices and workouts over the summer, sometimes the season never ends for a few select athletes like junior Theo Moen. Moen, who plays midfielder for the boys’ lacrosse team which plays in the spring, said, “I have to be well-conditioned to play my position, so I try to stay in shape over the summer.” While Moen spends some of his time in the weight room, he finds most of his time on the field in the offseason, “I play on club teams during the fall and summer so it sometimes feels like I’m playing lacrosse all year.”

Despite some studies showing that playing one sport year-round sometimes isn’t the best, the trend has continued to rise. This development, baseball captain Sean Edstrom said “has made a lot of sports more competitive.” 

Edstrom, an infielder on the baseball team, said, “There aren’t many physical things that can be done outside of the baseball season, however we do a lot of work right before the season […] We hit in cages and just try to get are arms ready for the season.”

For other sports teams, the summer represents a chance for the teams such as the girls’ basketball team to gain comradery and chemistry before the start of the season. Junior guard Rashmi Raveendran said “We do open gyms in the summer which is a fun way to stay on the court during the offseason.” For girls’ basketball, the team and their coaches try to plan out how they get ready. “In the summer, we work a lot more on skills while we work on conditioning in the fall,” Raveendran said.

As for finding the perfect balance between working on their game versus working on conditioning, Spartan athletes shared many different ideas.

For girls’ lacrosse defender Pia Shultz, her offseason work usually takes place on the field. “I play three sports so I focus more on the technique side of each game. However, I think I focus the most on lacrosse. […] During the offseason I will play wall ball for lacrosse against my garage, and do Wednesday practices. Because I focus more on technique, I usually spend more time doing stick work in lacrosse rather than lifting weights.”

On the other side of it, boys’ hockey goalie Thomas Kuriscak finds himself focusing more on improving physical attributes in the offseason. “I try to do ten 100m sprints and focus on a certain part of the body depending on how I’m feeling. I also stretch for about twenty minutes a day because I play goalie to ensure that I am physically ready for the season […] I probably would do more technical work, but it is very hard to get ice time over the summer.” Despite not being able to skate as often, Kuriscak believes in his system. He said, “Ever since I started this routine in the summer before my junior year, I’ve seen a ton of improvements in my game.”

Despite the numerous strategies employed by Spartan athletes to improve their craft, all of them believe that the steps are necessary. “It’s just something that you have to do to get better,” Edstrom said.