In anticipation for the winter sports season to begin in a few short weeks, both Boys and Girls Basketball are starting to condition for their extensive seasons. These sessions are not easy and should not be taken lightly.

For freshmen, it is a whole new aspect of the game because they did not have to go to these long, tiring sessions last year. It can be over-whelming at times.

“They (the upperclassmen) are really nice and supportive and understand when you need to take a break,” freshman Anne Baldwin said.

During the two-hour sessions, the athletes do different things like sprinting for long periods of time, circuits of jumping over small hurdles and ladders with 10-pound medicine balls, ab workouts in the weight room and scrimmaging.

“My favorite part is when the training is over but besides that it would have to be the scrimmaging that we get to do that makes us better players. I really don’t like the circuits with the medicine balls and the sprints,” Baldwin said.

At the junior high, there were no conditioning sessions, just open gym. Even those were optional. Practices normally consisted of warm-up and then many drills for skills and some scrimmaging. This is nothing like the hard practices they experience now.

“I feel like the conditioning at the high school is more effective and gets us in better shape so we will be better off for the season. And even though the junior high was easier, the conditioning makes me feel better about being ready for the actual season,” Baldwin said.