“Come on! You don’t even have to come to every practice. Just try it. I promise; you’ll have fun!” Students can always tell season tryouts are coming up when these words are heard throughout the Regina hallways.

Regina’s athletic department is unique from other schools in that the girls want to see their fellow classmates participating in a sport. One of the benefits of being at Regina with its small size is the opportunity for students to go out for a sport they may have never played before or to try out for a team they never dreamed they could make if they were at a larger, more competitive high school.  This rationale is certainly positive, but from a competitive standpoint, it can also have its limitations.

The dictionary defines sports as, “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature.” That competitive nature is what is lacking from some Regina athletes. This does not mean that our sports teams are not competitive, but some students joining teams for the first time or joining a sport that needs players may not have the same work ethic or dedication to the sport as other athletes who eat, breathe, and live their chosen sport.

Kate Houston, the head lacrosse coach, described her previous season as a building year. “We saw last year as a year to get more girls excited to play this fun sport. We wanted girls to come out and play lacrosse – a sport that many freshmen and many of the juniors never played before,” said Houston.  There were a total of 31 girls who tried out for the team. Therefore, lacrosse was fortunate enough to have both a junior varsity and a varsity team.

Last season, soccer had 18 committed players at the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, between injuries, poor grades, or a lackluster attitude, the team dwindled down to having just enough players to field a team during a game. Likewise, the varsity lacrosse team, consisting of 12 players often had to play against power-house teams without a full team.

For both McClure and Houston, setting a punishment for missing practice or a game was tricky. “I tried to make the schedule flexible and accommodate the players so that they could all attend practice. But, so many of the girls had different conflicts at different times. We hardly ever had a full team practice,” said McClure.

This leaves coaches in a predicament with a hard decision to make. Do they sacrifice a victory by sitting talented players for missing practices? Do they forfeit a game because they benched a few players and now do not have enough players to field a team? Or do they continue to play anyone who shows up to the game, regardless of their attendance record, so their team can be as competitive as possible?

“I am sure this thorny issue is prevalent within other sports, too. Our varsity team struggled to have enough players for several games. Because we had injured players or players on academic probation, our pool of varsity players was limited and we often played down one to four players at some of our games,” said Houston.

If a student knows they will be on varsity no matter what and will be able to play in most games, what is her incentive to show up to every practice and commit to the off-season workouts?

Although the answer is not so simple, there is one common denominator permeating through all of Regina Athletics: numbers. The best possible solution for this problem is to have more committed athletes go out for a sport for the right reasons: because they love the game and want to work hard during pre-season, during their practices and to play their heart out during the game. Not only would more numbers give the program a more balanced team, but it would increase the competitive nature of the school as a whole and weed out those students whose heart isn’t into a particular sport.

Many of Regina’s sports programs have large numbers of girls trying out for a sport, such as volleyball and basketball. Because there are large numbers of girls wanting a spot and only five to six players on a court, the healthy competition between girls pushes them to show up to practices and play hard.

Elizabeth Shack ’15 is a dual-athlete at Glenbrook North High School (GBN). She runs Cross Country and plays soccer. She explained that each sport has a freshman, junior varsity, and varsity team.“Everyone shows up to every workout and every practice so you can either make a better team, or get more playing time on the team you are currently on,” said Shack.

Glenbrook North’s schedule is not much different than Regina’s schedule. GBN begins off season workouts around the same time we do, and they practice six times a week for two hours a day.

If our work schedules are similar, why is GBN considered more competitive? Again, the main theme is numbers. “If you miss a workout or a practice you are expected to make it up on your own time, and you will lose playing time in season games. Everyone shows up to everything,” said Shack. Also, because of the size of the school, the number of athletes trying out is high and is competitive.

Playing together  as a team is a time to bond and build team chemistry. Chemistry is often the key to success, along with hard work and perseverance. Bigger schools like GBN may be more competitive in their season because they have been playing together for a long time and have a larger pool of talented athletes to pull from. As they work together through their years in high school, they get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Regina has many talented athletes. The cross country team finished fifth at sectionals and qualified to compete in the state playoffs this year. Niamh Ryan ’15, captain of the cross country team, said, “I am so proud of our girls this year! Each runner worked hard each day and strove to be the fastest runner they could be. Their hard work and dedication is the reason we will be competing at State this year.”

Both the varsity volleyball and varsity basketball teams won their Regional championship in the last year. Basketball even competed in the Sweet 16 Sectional Championship two years ago. The swim team recently finished a 200 freestyle race a mere .3 seconds away from breaking an all-school record.

The amount of talent walking the hallways in Regina is too great for us to have a poor work ethic. If athletes strive to be more committed to their team and more students are encouraged to join a sport, but for the right reasons of working hard and enjoying the thrill of the game, Regina can and will build a stronger athletic program.

Regina is a place to try new things and to be accepted for who you are. We don’t want to lose that special sense of what sets us apart from all the other high schools. For many of us, athletics is a place to escape our normal day to day routine and to relieve stress. It is a place to build relationships with others who appreciate the sport as much as we do and to have fun in a competitive environment.

Athletes need to work hard to make Regina a place where it is okay to test our own limits and to motivate others to give one hundred per cent each day of the season. We should go home exhausted, but with that inner sense of pride that we strove to do our very best  as an athlete .

Make Regina sports your passion, not just a hobby.