Photos submitted by Amila Hasanovic and Delaney Earney

Delaney Earney (10) dribbles the ball during a basketball game in the left picture and kicks the ball during a soccer game in the right picture. “Transitioning is hard sometimes because my club season ends the week before tryouts start, so I am not doing any soccer for a while,” Earney said. She has been playing both soccer and basketball since elementary school.

With the 2024 spring season coming up, many student athletes have been preparing for their first week of tryouts. It looks different however, for people in winter sports because of districts taking place the same week tryouts start, making it difficult to transition to another sport a week after everyone else.

“I really don’t [try to attend both], because…I have basketball practice until 4:30 and then by that time it is too late to go to golf,” Tanner Anderson (basketball and golf) said. “I just come in a week late and see what happens.”

Missing the first week not only puts athletes behind their team, but it also gives them less time to adjust from the winter to spring season.

“The transition is definitely different because the sports are completely different,” Sami Simokaitis (basketball and track) said. ”One’s inside, one’s outside and one is super competitive. One is more chill and not competitive.”

While some do find it difficult, others are confident that they have done enough to prepare for their upcoming season.

“I feel really confident because I know I am conditioned enough because of [club] soccer and basketball,” Delaney Earney (basketball and soccer) said. “I feel like I’ve done a lot to prepare.”

While some may feel prepared for their tryouts despite missing a week, others think they will feel further behind than the others.

“[I don’t feel prepared] because I am at a disadvantage because everyones been playing for a week and then I come in late and play,” Anderson said.

While they missed a week from tryouts, most basketball players are well conditioned and not physically too far behind given the rapid change from sport to sport.

“Basketball helps me because of the amount of conditioning we do. It helps keep me in shape,” Earney said. “While I’m doing basketball I’m also doing club soccer so I am doing a ton of sports that help me stay in shape the entire time.”