Athletics are highly ingrained in Aragon’s community. From school spirit to rallies, the emphasis on sports is year-round. Many athletes participate in both school and club sports.
“I play both club and school volleyball because it’s really exciting,” said sophomore Mina Mittler. “Playing sports allows me to develop relationships with people who I wouldn’t meet otherwise and an outlet to relieve my stress.”
Experiencing the different environments of club and school sports diversifies skill sets as well as provides opportunities to meet new people.
“I started playing [in] seventh grade,” said sophomore Lilly Loghmani. “I would play on two separate teams, one local team and one club team, because it helped me stay in shape throughout the year and let me keep improving.”
Because club sports are not limited to students at a particular school, the standards of playing are much different between the two.
“In school volleyball, it’s much more casual. The coaches aren’t expecting college level playing, but they are expecting you to try your hardest and to leave everything on the court,” Mittler said. “For club, the try out process is much more extensive. Moreover, the standards in club are much higher. During the long club season, the coaches are there to help you achieve your goals of potentially playing in college and will push you past your boundaries.”
Due to the vast amount of time and effort put into sports, student athletes have to compensate for lost academic time by making up homework, projects and tests.
“Time management with sports is really difficult especially during the club season. To manage my time, I really try to do homework whenever I have time: on the bus, during lunch, while I’m eating, etc.,” Mittler said. “Club is more time consuming because first, it is a longer season with 10 hours a week of practicing. Second, there are many weekend tournaments where it spans from Friday to Monday and many times we travel by plane.”
Despite the thrills of traveling around the state or nation for tournaments, some prefer the more close-knit camaraderie of school sports.
“I prefer school athletics for the community much more than club athletics because in school, it feels more like a team and we get much closer to each other,” Loghmani said. “It feels more like more like a family versus club where the level of play is more elevated and advanced and the people who are playing are less team-like and more about individual improvement.”
In both school and club sports, players are able to craft long-lasting memories with their teammates.
“When I was nine years old, I was playing goalkeeper at my club. The score was 2-2 and there was a penalty against me during the last few minutes,” said sophomore soccer player Elson Wong. “The striker kicked it straight down the middle and I somehow saved it. I love playing soccer and I am grateful to the opportunity that I have been given to continue this sport throughout my life.”
Although participating in both school and club sports takes a huge chunk of student athletes’ time, the friends and skills they pick up is worth the effort.
