Tryouts pushed to second week of school for first time in nearly a decade

*cartoon illustrations by River Hennick 

The dates of regional and state competitions may be pushed back after fall tryouts were held a week later than usual.

In past seasons, all fall sports began their tryout week on the first day of school. This year, the students who wanted to try for a sport were able to have school for a week to get situated with their classes.

According to Athletic Director Debby Katzfey, this is the first time that tryouts have been pushed back like this in about ten years. 

Katzfey explained that freshmen in the past haven’t tried out for fall sports because they did not realize they were so early in the year. 

“The beauty of starting a week after school starts is it allows the communication to get out there, especially for freshmen and for new students”, Katzfey said.

Although the state sets the tryout dates and requirements, it does not choose the first official day of classes. The dates for these tryouts were decided years in advance by the Kansas State High Schools Activities Association.

“[The schedule] rotates because school districts tend to start earlier for classes”, Katzfey said.

This change affects many other aspects of the sports season other than the initial tryout dates, including the dates for state and regional competitions. According to state standards, there is a set number of weeks that each sport can hold for their season to ensure that all schools have equal advantages in playing time and preparation. This also means that the state and regional competition dates will be later compared to previous years. 

In recent years, fall sports have begun tryouts the same day that freshmen have their first day of classes. Varsity boys soccer coach Jamie Kelly believes the change might have a positive influence on freshmen by allowing them to adjust to a new school environment before jumping into tryouts.

“For freshman it’s probably a little bit better because you’re probably overwhelmed the first day of school”, Kelly says. “Sophomores, juniors, and seniors, are ready to go because they’ve been through it and they know”.

Varsity tennis player and Junior Quinci Cartmell believes that the schedule change has allowed the freshmen to get to know their peers better and feel more relaxed before tryouts begin.

“It’s a good opportunity to go in with friends before”, Cartmell said about her experience with the tryout process.