Record High Numbers of Freshman Try Out For Fall Sports

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On the last day of fall sports tryouts, kids wait anxiously by their computers, waiting to see the results of tryouts. While some become excited about making their teams, others must face the fact that they were cut. Tryouts serve as the start to every sports season. Fall sports include football, volleyball, boy’s soccer, girl’s tennis, cross country, gymnastics and girl’s golf.

Leading up to tryouts many players went to conditioning, kick-arounds and open gym to get prepared. During conditioning the coaches also got a sense of what they would have to work with during the season.

Many sports held tryouts the week of Aug. 17th, and immediately started practice the day after they concluded. This year, more freshman athletes tried out for sports than any other year before. Soccer hit a new record with the amount of kids trying with a staggering 120 kids.

A new team was added in football this year due to the amount of athletes that tried out. This goes hand in hand with the high number of students in the freshman class. Volleyball also opened up the amount of spots available on each team making it easier for more girls to play and less girls to get cut.

There are no tryouts for football, girl’s tennis, cross country, gymnastics and girl’s golf. The placement of which team each player is on was determined by how hard the players worked in conditioning, and how they performed.

“There are so many opportunities for kids to get involved at East, and playing a sport is a great way to be involved,” Athletic Director Kelli Kurle said.

Having never won a state championship in sports such as soccer, a high amount of kids trying out could be the missing piece to the puzzle.