Now that spring semester is in full swing, it’s time for spring sports! Softball, lacrosse, baseball, winter sport playoffs, tennis–you name it, Winthrop has it. There are TONS of sports to watch and keep up with on campus!
As exciting as being on-season is, it’s not always paradise once off-season conditioning ends.
Here are some pros and cons I believe really describe athletes feelings towards finally being in season.
CONS
Tan lines.
Sock tans, cross back penny tans, goggle tans oh my! In my uniform I look great, but once summer comes I look like I’m still wearing it from the lines on my body that haven’t been exposed to the sun for months.
Blisters.
Breaking in those fresh new cleats for game day sucks and can leave you with some nasty blisters, but hey look good feel good play good amirite?
Sleeping on the bus
It’s that time of year where days out of your week are spent on a coach bus driving hours to your away games. But usually by the time you’re an upperclassman, you’ve learned the art of sleeping sitting up or getting creative with blankets on the bus floor and can practically sleep through anything.
Weather change
This could go as a pro or a con. The pro is that the cold is rough and starting season in the winter is miserable, but once that nice weather hits, you can work on your tan and not have your fingers feel like they’re freezing off. The con is that there is only a small window of ‘perfect weather’, and once spring has sprung you’re back to sweating profusely during your three hour practice.
Missing class
This too can go as a pro or con as well. As great as not having to sit through yet ANOTHER lecture is, you have to take the liberty to catch up on your own work and possibly take tests early in order to adapt to your professor’s syllabus.
PROS
Team chemistry
Now that fall ball is out of the way and you’re hungry for the real games, teams start to build that last bit of chemistry where they bond over being ready to beat a team and cheer each other on to come out with a W.
Not as much conditioning
A good coach will not only condition their players well throughout the off season, but also make sure their players aren’t losing that endurance once season rolls around. Instead of having multiple two-a-days and other days full of conditioning, one may only have one day a week where you do some extra sprints before practice to prepare yourself and make sure you’re the most fit team on game day.
Wearing Uniforms
Off-season tournaments are fun, but it really doesn’t feel like game day in practice clothes and nothing beats putting on that jersey and matching skirt and feeling and LOOKING like a million bucks ready to win with your team.
Traveling to cool places
I have done more traveling all over the United States as a Division 1 Athlete than I ever did with my family. I’ve been up and down the coast of California, Chicago, Ohio and many other states. A few of my teammates even traveled to Japan last summer to play team Japan! Some of the games we have scheduled this year have my team traveling to some pretty cool places! For spring break we will be going to Colorado to play CU Boulder, as well as The University of Cincinnati in Ohio, The University of Michigan (the largest stadium in the US) and next year we might go play in Oregon since they are flying out this year to play us!
Seeing families more often
I don’t know about you, but my family is full of die-hard lacrosse fans who would rather lose an arm than miss game day for Winthrop lacrosse. Having home games and games up north for my teammate’s families that they don’t have to drive as far to is more than just an excuse to see our families. With practice on the weekends every week both in off-season and in season it’s nice to have a day sharing the sport we love and eating some good food and catching up instead of practice and homework.
WINNING
This can happen a lot–or only a few times for some teams. But no matter what, there’s absolutely nothing better than a win with your team. All the hard work and preparation for a game and seeing everything come together and coming out on top makes all the hard day’s worth it. I’m hoping Winthrop gets a few wins this season and maybe even a three-peat as conference champs in April/May!
Here’s a link for Winthrop Women’s Lacrosse home schedule as well as away games!
Come show your school spirit and watch the fastest growing sport in the world!
Happy spring sport season Collegiettes!