“We have a school of 800 kids, and we’re competing against teams in our league that have 1600 kids. And if we’re going to be successful, we need everybody, all hands on deck,” said Mike Divilibiss, activities director at Lakeland High School. 

Winter is here and people often enjoy doing fun things in the snow, such as snowboarding and skiing. Unfortunately for many students, winter sports at school often interfere with the weekends causing people to be unable to participate in the fun winter activities they look forward to. 

“Winter is my time for a break from sports and to have fun with my friends.” That is what student Raiston Ellwood said when asked why he chooses to snowboard rather than playing a school sport during the snow season. 

 Divilbiss stated, “ Don’t tell me they’re tired, don’t tell me they need days off, they’re 15 years old. The bottom line, athletics grows grit more than anything else in this world.”

A large number of Lakeland students are faced with the decision between a winter school sport or winter activities, and many of these students opt out of sports to go snowboarding or skiing. A few athletes at Lakeland were asked what decision they make when forced with this choice. 

 “I hate to see kids miss out on the opportunity to play these sports during high school because the snow will always be there” mentioned Dilvilbiss.

Sophomore student-athlete Hutton Hegbloom, who chooses to ski rather than participate in a winter sport, was asked why he made this decision. He said that skiing is more enjoyable than any winter sports and although he understands the importance of playing school sports, skiing is his personal preference. He claimed “I love getting lost in the cold ocean of white.” 

When Freshman Hans Pluid was asked why he didn’t participate in basketball or wrestling and chose to go snowboarding every weekend instead, he said that snowboarding is just as much of a high effort sport as basketball or wrestling and he enjoys snowboarding much more. 

For the most part, many athletes used valid reasons for choosing to snowboard or ski rather than joining a winter sport. However, Connor Carvajal said that he decides to ski because it is a manly and superior sport. Coach Divilbiss says that we need every athlete to play three sports, but many athletes choose to have some time to themselves for wintertime.