During the off-season, it is vital for athletes to train for their specific sports. No matter what sport you are playing, it is important to sharpen your skills. Junior Ethan Callison devotes a lot of his time to his sport, and has become very skilled because of it.
Training in the off-season is different for every athlete. For Callison, his training never ends.
“My training never really has a stopping point, I mean I go straight from high school ball, then into my summer ball, then into fall ball, after fall ball I go straight into my winter training, so I mean I never really stop training,” Callison said
Callison has been on varsity baseball for his first two high school baseball seasons, he describes the differences from being a freshman and preparing for the season, to now being a junior, who has already been on varsity his first two years, and preparing for the season.
“Well, in freshman year, I was really just trying to showcase what I can do, I was trying to just make the team and do my best. Now that I have been on varsity for 2 years, I have a taste of what it is like so I am working on what I have my struggles with, while also getting stronger,” Callison said.
Another student who has been on varsity all three years, is basketball player Josie Crangle, and even though she is a lock to be on the varsity squad, her preparation and effort never waivers.
“Nothing has really changed from freshman year to junior year with Coach Leake you have to be giving 100 percent all the time or you won’t play, so I always give my 100 percent, so nothing yeah I mean nothing has really changed,” Crangle said.
No matter how good of a season that an athlete had the previous year, they always look to improve, and build on it. Callison’s goal for this season is to make first-team all-conference and first team all-district.
“Sophomore year I got second team all-conference and second team all-district, so this year I really am aiming for first team in both of those, I also want to help my team out and do my job anyway I can,” Callison said.
Goals are important for athletes to set, they are able to set a foundation for themselves and then at the end of the season, re-evaluate themselves. Crangle has her own goal for her upcoming season.
“My goal is to average more points than I did last season, I can reach this goal if I can stay consistent, keep practicing, and just keep putting in the work,” Crangle said.
While preparing for the season, Crangle has to commit a lot of her time to her sport.
“We practice two-and-a-half hours a day, six times a week, and then even on our days off I’ll go to the Rec and shoot around for a bit,” Crangle said.
Callison also commits a lot of time to his sport, according to himself, he commits way more time in-season than in the off-season.
“I spend at least five to eight hours a week in the offseason, but during the season I usually get up to 12 hours a week,” Callison said.
