During a sports season, student athletes take part in practices, competitions, tournaments, and games; but what do they do in the off season? Most sports have post season and preseason conditioning, but there are also plenty of clubs and camps to help athletes become better at the sports they are passionate about as well. So what are they exactly? What types of training do they do? And how do you find the right one for you?
During the school year some coaches will hold a conditioning practice, typically three to five days a week, to help get you in shape for your season. One way of conditioning is strength training to help get your body stronger and used to heavy lifting. Another kind of conditioning is endurance training to help your body get used to high stress levels. Some sports that use these types of conditioning are wrestling, track, cheerleading, soccer, football, dance, and many more. Mary Burns, a Sophomore JV track runner, said she found conditioning “time consuming, but it helps us get better.”
There are a lot of different types of conditioning including agility, speed, aerobic and anaerobic power and capacity, flexibility, balance, and coordination, which are explained more in depth here. And all of these are trained over the summer at these camps.
Another way to keep your body in shape through the summer are clubs. Throughout the year after the season has ended some clubs pop up so athletes can continue working on their skills while competing against other clubs. An example of this is Athena Wrestling run by one of the coaches of the Harrison Wrestling girls team. This club runs practice from 6pm-8pm Tuesdays and Thursdays and offers to coach girls at tournaments for a fee. When asked which she found more effective, Rylee Dearwester, a Freshman wrestler, said, “I think clubs are more effective because it draws in kids on certain things they like.”
Unlike clubs, camps are just practices and do not include competitions. They exist to make athletes better and professional athletes and coaches share their skills. Some colleges host summer camps to help keep their athletes stay in shape while simultaneously helping high school athletes get a better skill set and stay in shape while they are not practicing on a regular basis. But clubs aren’t just for high school students; they are also provided for the youth. “Summer camps are really a peace of mind for parents. You want to find something that’s fun and engaging for your kids to do during the summer where they’re not sitting on a phone,” Chris Pike, Marketing and Communication specialist with Cincinnati Recreation Commission, said.
One of the many places that offer programs in Cincinnati Sports Club. They offer clubs and camps for all school ages for many sports all across the Cincinnati area.
While these three are vastly different they all have the same goal in mind: help athletes get better at whatever sport they are passionate about. With all that’s been said, each athlete has a different skill set and differences in what helps them work best, so find what works best for you!
