The sound of the basketball dribbling can be heard echoing throughout the gym. The splashing water is no small noise in the giant pool. Quick-moving feet on a wrestling mat are small but distinguishable. Two hockey sticks loudly clash against each other out on the ice rink. Before fall sports even finish, winter sports are starting to claim their turf.
It’s a known fact that to be the best you have to practice like you’re the best. And in recent years, that has meant starting practice as early as possible. Ask any athlete; they’ll tell you that as soon as coaches get clearance from the state to run practices, they start going to work. Albert Lea has some tough competition in the Big 9. In order to be up to par with other teams in the area, sports have to take advantage of all the practice time they can get. Sometimes that can mean having almost a six-month season. High school sports have lengthy, noteworthy seasons. As winter sports start up, it’s time to shine the light on all the hard work they’ve done and have yet to do.
The girls’ dance team has wasted no time getting down to business. Official practice started on Monday, Oct. 24 for them. But planking, running and stretching for two and a half hours for five days a week is nothing new for the dancers. Practice for the big Homecoming half-time show started in mid-June. Their winter season will include competitions, athletic performances and long practices until the end of February or early March. The girls will have their first invite on Saturday, Dec. 10. According to junior Devon Mullenbach, the long season is necessary for the team to reach its full potential.
“We lose a lot of our flexibility over the summer,” Mullenbach explained. “We have to work hard to keep up with the other Big 9 teams.”
While the dance team works on its kicks, the hockey team is greasing up their sticks. Oct. 31 means Halloween to many people, but to the girls’ hockey team, it means the first day of practice. It won’t be long before the arena will become a little more crowded in mid-November when the boys practice officially starts. After a summer filled with camps and/or daily 1½-hour practices, they’re ready to hit the ice. Although 100 percent of a hockey game is played in the rink, the girls also have off-ice practices twice a week, where they do squats and a plyometrics work-out. The next four months will consist of daily three-hour practices, two games a week and some Saturday tournaments for both the boys and girls.
“I like the long season,” said sophomore hockey player Anna Anderson. “It goes by really fast.”
You can’t have the bad without the good. The boys hockey players know first-hand you need to endure the conditioning to get the best results. Of course, there are fun parts, too.
“The best practices are the ones were we play ‘three on three’ in the zone or when we get to play in the Tiger Cup,” explained senior Brady Falk.
Boys swimming is preparing to take over in the pool with captains’ practice on Nov. 14 and official practice on Nov. 28. From 3:15-5:30 p.m., there’s never a still moment in the water. A lot of work must be done before mid-season, when the boys are expected to be at their peak.
“Practice gets hardest at the middle of the season because we taper at the end,” said junior Andrew Kozelsky.
The boys expect to start off strong at their first meet on Thursday, Dec. 8. The boys swim laps daily and have even swam 10,000 yards at practice before. But hard work is best rewarded with a treat, meaning a game of water polo every now and then. The pool will be occupied by roughly 20 boys until mid-February.
After walking by the pool area, a stroll by the gym on the right will probably reveal the squeaking of tennis shoes on the basketball court. It’s Nov. 21. That’s the sound of the boys and girls basketball teams going to work. Lay-ups, offensive and defensive drills, scrimmages, shooting, blocking and push-ups all make up a typical week of practice in the life of a basketball player. The boys like to spice things up while doing muscle resistant exercises by singing the Macarena. The girls have their own way of making practice a little more exciting.
“We shoot half court shots, and if the team makes two the coaches bring us ice cream cake,” said senior Ashley Tewes.
Adding up the conditioning, captains’ practice and games, the basketball players will have racked up about five and a half months of constant practice.
“I’d rather have a long season than a short one,” said sophomore Carter Dahl. “But I think we should be able to reach our potential in half of that.”
When game number one rolls around on Tuesday, Nov. 29, the girls will be ready, and the boys’ hopes are no different for Friday, Dec. 9. Both the boys and girls teams have a common goal in mind this year: bring home more wins.
Put down a couple mats and subtract the suspending hoops, and the basketball court is transferred into a giant wrestling mat. Since Oct. 31, the boys have already been getting a head start in the weight room. When the calendar strikes Nov. 23, the boys wrestling team members will be found in the wrestling room, weight room and hallways. The boys have a rigorous two-hour practice every day. Along with sparring sessions, practice also consists of stairs, sprints, ropes, hammers hit into a tire, sprints, barbell and kettlebell workouts, and pull ups.
“The beginning is the hardest because that’s when we have to start losing weight,” said senior Dalton Westerlund.
Westerlund had no complaints when it came to the duration of the season, though, saying it was just right. Saturday, Dec. 3, the boys will test their skills at their first invitational. The big conference matches start at the end of February.
Winter sports seasons are long, so they push athletes to their maximums, keeping them active longer, and trying to make the most successful season possible. It’s necessary to do whatever you can to be at the top in such a competitive world, and the Albert Lea Tigers have too much pride to let hard work go to waste.