Football, soccer, cross country and cheer are fall sports that have practices all summer in preparation for their upcoming fall seasons.

High school athletes are pushed to show up to long and hot practices all summer long.

Kenna Simon, a junior at LHS, plays volleyball, basketball, and track. She has had her fair share of summer practices in her years of being an athlete and says she likes them. 

“It depends on what sport is practicing, but I like them because going is beneficial. I am not excited when the practices are super early in the morning, but once I get there, I am excited to be there”. 

Athletes who strive for success like Kenna Simon enjoy the summer practices, but many others may dislike them because it takes their summer away.

The coaches are smart for this summer practice technique, though, because if many athletes had the time, they might make some questionable choices. Going out and partying will make the morning practice way harder than they need to be, so athletes usually decide to be smart. 

Whitnee Johnson is the junior varsity coach for Lakeland High’s women’s soccer team. “I like them because they help athletes get ready for the season. When I played, it benefited me as an athlete, so I would show up to them,” Johnson said about summer practices. 

She says that summer practices consist of “ Conditioning to get into shape, footwork, and drills to improve skill, and team bonding for coaches and athletes to get to know each other.” 

From the coaches’ perspective, the much said quotes “On the line” or “Give me twenty” make their day. 

I personally had mixed feelings about summer practices when I played soccer for Lakeland Highschool.  The morning practices were the best because the weather was cooler, so the conditioning we did was not as awful. Waking up early was not very fun, but if they were in the morning, it got the practice out of the way. 

Double days though, are absolutely terrible. Mornings are 7-8 a.m., and afternoons are 6-8 p.m., so your day is pretty much gone. Usually, the athletes are exhausted and just eat-sleep-practice every day of the week.