For many students at South, a Thanksgiving break or Christmas break means a time to gather with your family and take a break from school, homework and just relax. For many winter athletes this feeling is somewhat contrasted. With practices early in the morning and sometimes even longer practices, this “break” does not give most athletes a relaxing time, but keeps them productive and still working over break.
Swim coach John Fodell runs many practices during winter, keeping his athletes training at all costs. He cherishes the time spent even on the school days off to keep the team going and make sure athletes are practicing towards their goals.
“Conditioning is everything in most athletic sports, if you take a week off you’ll go back to zero,” Fodell said. “If you don’t train over break, you’re not doing what it takes to get better than anyone else. It’s absolutely a necessity if you wanna be as good as anyone else.”
For swimmer Johnny Klepp ’25, his break is not spent chilling at home or sleeping in late, instead he’s up early in the morning for swim practice. The mandatory practices hold Klepp accountable to still put in the work even on our break.
“There are definitely some days where athletes deserve breaks, but there are also days when we should be practicing,” Klepp said. “I one hundred percent find myself being lazy during breaks and these practices keep me accountable.”
Many captains of their sports have to set a good example for younger athletes who are new to South sports, as upperclassmen Duncan Richards ’25, swim captain thinks this is beneficial to show up to practice, it sets a good example for the new swimmers.
“I think winter break practices are absolutely necessary.The fact is that you can’t improve without practicing your sport,” Richards said. “Even though it might be a pain to have to train over a break period, it means that our varsity athletes can continue to get better and not regress.”
Captain Maddy Benard ’25, of the girls basketball team likes to encourage the younger kids to show up and keep working on their skills, even the upperclassmen know how annoying a practice during winter break can be, but knows it will pay off in the end.
“Obviously these practices are beneficial because we are getting more reps and putting in more practice hours,” Benard said. “It can be a little unnecessary because we don’t have many games over the break, so practice everyday can be a little excessive.”
The overall message from these practices is that it can form a strong team and get new members who are unfamiliar with older kids to get closer to each other. Klepp sees this as a way to bond with his fellow teammates.
“I think it’s very beneficial especially at such a crucial point in the season that we are getting in shape,” Klepp said. “They definitely build team relationships and chemistry because it’s a great time to talk to your teammates and learn more about them.”
