Adam Pfeiffer ‘20

The world changes. It is simple as that, and the high school sports landscape has changed as well. In years past, student athletes focused on a sport during that season, and for their school only: football in the late summer and fall, basketball in the winter, and so on. Now, it is rare to see serious high school athletes playing their respective sports in only one season, and without playing for a club team.
Athletes have accepted this trend, devoting hours of their daily lives to improving their craft. In order to optimize their time, many have turned to club sports in order to refine their skills. “Playing club is a great way to get noticed by college coaches and increase your chance at a potential scholarship,” said senior lacrosse player Michael Feeney.
The club sports movement is nationwide, and the numbers are tremendous. According to a 2013 Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) survey, roughly 10 million athletes between ages 13-17 play a club sport outside of high school, and this number surely has grown.
However, only 6 percent of athletes play at the collegiate level, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Then, why do so many athletes pay to participate in club sports if they will not play their sport after their senior year of high school?
Sometimes, as in junior softball player Samantha Combs’ case, players may join a team when they are in elementary school and stick with that club for years. “[I play for] the Olney Cougars and I’ve been with that organization since I was 8,” said Combs. Softball clubs like the Cougars travel around Maryland and the East Coast for tournaments every weekend, and practice twice a week from May to August. The frequency and distance of these tournaments decrease as the calendar turns into fall, but they exist the whole year, save for high school season and the month of November.
Occasionally, athletes have conflicts between their club team and a Sherwood team. “Sometimes there’s [7 on 7 football] tournaments on a Saturday that I have track,” said junior football and track star Eddie Dumas, who plays for the 480 Club 7 on 7 football team.
Junior volleyball player Annabelle Kahn is a member of the Columbia Volleyball Club, and additionally plays for the Sherwood girls’ varsity and co-ed teams. Having several teams to play for, along with several hours of homework each night, leads to stress and overlaps between teams. Having such a busy schedule, however, can teach prioritization and time management skills. “It’s pretty difficult to balance school and volleyball, but I make sure to utilize and free time I have during the day,” said Kahn.
Coaches believe that these clubs are beneficial, but only when a player goes to the correct club for them, and if done out of season to avoid overexertion. However, there are warnings against sport specialization, due to injury risk. “Specialization is just terrible … you’re utilizing just one skill set and body part,” said Athletic Trainer Becky Taylor. This can lead to that body part bearing too much burden, and has very significant injury risks.
However, there are some positives to play a sport year-round. “Outside of the season it gives them the advantage to other athletes who do not participate outside of the season. It is easy to decipher the athletes that play year around and those that do not … softball is a sport that allows you to get better with repetition, not just doing it when time is convenient for [players],” said softball Coach Ashley Barber-Strunk.
In addition to the many demands of a club team, student athletes must meet the demands of their high school coach. This means practice everyday, typically including Saturdays, and anywhere from 1-3 games/matches a week, depending on the sport and time of season. However, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) regulates the length practice can go. “You can only practice for 2-2 ½ hours … after that, you’re mind goes, and your body,” said Athletic Director Jason Woodward.
Many coaches also have film sessions with their athletes using Hudl. “We do film sessions as a group approximately once every 2 weeks, but I expect that they watch each film that I put up. I often tell them to watch a particular film or set of clips with notes in preparation for a [game or] practice,” said boys’ lacrosse coach Matthew Schneider.
The film requirements vary from coach to coach and sport to sport. The football team watches film at least once a week, with coaches checking on their players’ Hudl activity. The volleyball team watches film once every two weeks. Though softball isn’t a sport where spending hours watching film yields as many results as sports like football, Barber-Strunk encourages her players to watch and be around the game as much as possible. “Watching softball in any capacity is good for [the players] to get them to think ‘ what would I do in that situation,’” said Barber-Strunk.
In addition to film, coaches hold offseason workouts, trying to improve their players’ physical shape, but also their mental shape and camaraderie. Typical offseason workouts occur 2-3 times per week, with all being after school, except football which, for the majority, hold workouts before school.
These workouts can not be required, but they are a crucial part of the preparation for the season. Along the same lines as these workouts are team camps and other training opportunities, such as the football team camp at the beginning of August, or the soccer summer league that soccer Coach Mathew Parsons coaches a team. Athletes are encouraged to attend as many of these events as possible, as it not only provides the coach with preliminary view of an athlete’s strengths, but also a general idea of how the team will look.
“The better you can get your body to perform at its highest level, the better you will be. You should do [what you can],” said football Coach Tom Crowell.
The landscape of high school sports has unquestionably changed over the last 10-15 years, with much of it being changed to completely optimize player performance, and increase their chance of completing their dream to play NCAA sports.