There’s a wide array of spring sports: lacrosse, golf, track, baseball, figure skating, and tennis. Often, when participating in school athletics, athletes will tend to have practice over break. While some athletes enjoy the extra time to practice and bond with teammates, others feel that they would benefit from time off, finding better ways to spend their break.

Junior Olivia Lumba, a member of the PDS Track and Field team, shared her insights on spring break practices, “I would say there should be practice if the whole team is going to commit…and if the team is given notice ahead of time. … It’s a really good way to get training in and get a jump start on the season.” Overall, Lumba had a positive view on having spring break practices.

The same question was asked of junior Bella Hu, a PDS varsity figure skater. While figure skating does not have practice over spring break, she too had a similar opinion on this subject. Hu shared, “I believe that practices over spring break, especially for competitive teams, should be allowed. If there are upcoming games (or in some cases performances), it could actually potentially put less stress on the team to have preparation spread out over a longer period of time.” She adds that it can be beneficial, in order to perform better in games or performances, to have as much practice as possible, even if that means it is over spring break.

While both athletes agreed that practice over break can be helpful, they also stressed the need to be aware ahead of time if there are practices. Lumba noted, “If you tell the athletes later on, they could already have plans for spring break and that isn’t really fair to them to make it mandatory.” Similarly Hu responded, “Team members also should not be penalized or lose sports credits for not being able to attend. Many have conflicts, such as travel, that may have been determined months in advance by family.”

Thus, while practice can be useful for athletes over spring break in order to improve and feel more prepared during games, there can be exceptions to that rule, such as having prior commitments. Most importantly, coaches should always give a heads up well in advance as to whether there will be practice over spring break, so athletes can plan their schedules accordingly.