After school hours are a prime time for Berkeley High School sports practices. Whether it be dribbling on the soccer field, shooting hoops in the Donahue Gym, or lifting weights in the weight room, athletes across BHS’ 29 school sanctioned sports are practicing constantly. One sport, water polo, which has both a boys and girls team at BHS, has a unique practice schedule. Athletes can be seen jumping into the pool early in the morning before school. Depending on the perspective, this could be seen as a positive or negative.
Greyson Grubb Smith, a BHS sophomore on boys varsity water polo, sees morning practice as a positive. “I feel like it made me perform way better through the school day, and it kind of calmed me down,” Grubb Smith said. As someone that has a lot of energy, playing in the morning helped Grubb Smith relax himself and be able to better focus in class. Along with helping his concentration throughout the day, Grubb Smith feels that morning practices helped his team build connections. “Getting there, seeing all the boys in the morning, we’re all tired, we’re all getting in the pool together, it’s a really fun time,” he said.
Venice Hockey, a sophomore at BHS who plays on the girls water polo team, had a different outlook towards morning practices. “I hated them,” she said. In her opinion, having to get up at 5:00 a.m. is often not positive and very taxing for student athletes. Balancing these early mornings with schoolwork and other commitments can also be difficult. Hockey stated, “I would do any reason to skip (morning practices) because they made me so exhausted and I couldn’t focus throughout the day.”
Juliet Distefano, a girls water polo player, recognized the downsides of morning practice, such as wet or chlorine damaged hair at school and early mornings. However, ultimately, Distefano found these early practices unexpectedly enjoyable. “It was kind of refreshing. I didn’t really think I was gonna like it, but it ended up being fun,” she said. Distefano also mentioned that the morning practices were usually less physically strenuous, focusing more on strength and conditioning rather than intense drills, which was a positive for her.
Overall, athletes have mixed views and experiences when it comes morning sports practices at BHS. For some, they’re a great way to bond with teammates and start the day on a productive note. For others, having to wake up before the sunrise can prove to be entirely unpleasant and impair one’s ability to stay focused and energized throughout the school day. Despite the downsides or high school athletes’ feelings regarding before school practices, they continue to show up everyday and work tirelessly, balancing an early morning athletic commitment with their academic schedules.