Many athletes, including students at Berkeley High School (BHS), train, play, and practice year-round in order to be competitive.
To succeed in BHS’s soccer program, many players like Academic Choice (AC) sophomore Finn Gohlke, who plays on the BHS boys varsity team, play outside of the winter season. Gohlke doesn’t look at this negatively. “For me, it is a great privilege to be able to play all year round,” said Gohlke. “[It] has definitely helped me develop as a player [and] additionally [build] a strong passion for the sport.”
Liam Morehouse, an AC senior and former BHS varsity water polo player, played club water polo for CC United in Lafayette during the BHS off-season since his freshman year. “It’s obviously something that has to be balanced with the other expectations of a high school student,” he said. “But with the right mindset, it’s completely doable,” Morehouse said. His love for water polo made it easier. “There’s really nothing better than being in the water, and knowing it will help your high school team makes it all the more worthwhile,” Morehouse said.
Training for BHS crew currently takes place for nine months of the year, though at one time, it was strictly a spring sport. “As our region became more competitive and the other programs were racing yearround, it became necessary for us to have a more established fall season,” said BHS head crew coach Marie Jones. Jones argued that this difficulty builds time management skills and recovery habits like eating, sleeping well, and stretching, but also acknowledged the ways in which it “can wear on people both mentally and physically.” Heulwen Davies, a junior in AC and a BHS womens varsity rower, “[finds] it hard at times to manage the long hours on top of all my schoolwork and other extracurriculars.”
While training yearround allows athletes “to continue to perform, grow, and improve throughout the year,” Jones said, “It’s a tough balance.”