As CIF season nears and new seasons arrive, should Sage Creek’s athletics focus on creating pre-season training regimes? Will training months before the regular season enhance or diminish the efforts of players throughout the season? Will it translate in more wins or losses?

Ethan Sakata, a sophomore baseball player who can fill in at any position on the diamond told us, “You need to be in shape and you need to be prepared for the hardest competition. [Training before the regular season] also helps to build stamina and gives players a higher level of focus.”

Baseball is known as a year-round sport, especially in a place like sunny San Diego. However, specialized doctors and sports physicians, such as Dr. James Andrews, who has surgically repaired torn ligaments in hundreds of current MLB players, has released reports that arm surgeries have drastically increased since travel ball has become popular in the United States.

I do acknowledge this and believe what these doctors are saying, but training and practicing is something crucial, especially in sports such as baseball and softball. After all, hitting a baseball or softball solidly is the toughest thing to do in all of athletics. There needs to be some sort of balance and maturity to know when to take a break and when to walk away from it for a suitable amount of time.

Baseball obviously differs from volleyball, and sophomore volleyball player Joey Uhl tells us that he “definitely think[s] sports should train in the preseason because they can get that upper hand advantage on teams that don’t.”

Team chemistry is something that can make or break a team, it is something that can’t be superficially created or manipulated. It can even make a not-as-talented team dangerous. But it takes time and training before the regular season “definitely allows us to benefit because we get a lot of extra practice and also build team chemistry” Uhl said.

Bailee Brennan, a junior varsity soccer player, has gone through a tough stretch as of late, when she suffered a torn ACL. The highly unnerving surgery took place nearly a month later on March 15. Originally, she was projected to be out of the action for 9 months, but her hard work and motivation to train led to her getting back into the swing of things earlier than anticipated.

“The preseason could be great, if you are off from physical activity for several months and then just abruptly start again; it’ll most likely be a lot harder on your body,” Brennan said.

I believe that in order to excel in a given sport, training and practice is essential. Training allows you to be your best self and also gives a team the opportunity to bond and build connections with teammates that’ll carry over into the regular season. However, athletes need to have the awareness and smarts to know when to stop and allow their bodies to recuperate. To be your best self you must train and strive to be the best. If you love something you have to put your heart into it, and in this case, train accordingly and productively and training will be a helpful thing for anyone going into their respective sport.