FOX VALLEY, Wis. — WIAA fall sports have all formally began with practices starting all through the month of August and lots of athletes working arduous forward of the tutorial yr beginning.
Senior libero Ella Lindgren and her Neenah volleyball teammates have been figuring out for months in the course of the summer season to remain sharp for the upcoming fall season.
The full workforce began apply on Aug. 18. As a defensive specialist, she stated she’s been engaged on her passes and digs for hours at a time.
“We did a lot of wall work working on our angles and just getting multiple touches at a time,” stated Lindgren. “That’s a nice part about volleyball, is you can get 100 touches in, like 30 seconds. I think constantly being in the gym, lifting, getting stronger as the summer goes on and just constantly improving those reps.”
(Spectrum News 1/Geno Perez)
Neenah volleyball head coach Nate Leitermann stated 60 girls tried out to be on the workforce. In his third yr as coach, he needs to proceed to create workforce bonds and ensure the workforce is effectively rounded for his or her first match.
“They want to be here every single day… Sometimes I actually have to kick them out of the gym and say, take a week off,” stated Leitermann. “As a coach, it just makes you happy because it just gets you excited for the fall season. You know that they want to win and eventually get a state championship.”
Girl golfers are additionally engaged on their expertise forward of the fall season. Kaukauna sophomore golfer Sawyer Olson competed within the WIAA State Tournament final yr. That end impressed her to work arduous over the summer season to hopefully make it back to state. Olson stated she’s been working to good her swing.
(Spectrum News 1/Geno Perez)
“Lots of hard work, lots of mental and physical challenges and then trying to manage that with like homework and other sports,” stated Olson. “It was challenging, but all worth it in the end.”
For over 15 years, Andy Benson has coached girls and boys golf at Kaukauna. He stated he stresses conserving grades up in the course of the college yr as a result of it may be powerful with their full athletic schedule.
“It’s the beginning of the year and they’re not into their routines at school yet and…last year we had a tournament on the first day of school,” stated Benson. “That can be hard for the kids, but the thing that we’ve really noticed, especially I don’t know since I’ve been here, is that our girls and boys that play golf, are great students.”
(Spectrum News 1/Geno Perez)
Whether it’s on the course, within the gymnasium, or on the sector, fall athletes proceed to grind forward of the varsity yr. They are hoping to make that subsequent step of their athletic careers and earn success for his or her groups.