At Morton East High School, a majority of students believe that pre-season training should be mandatory in order to try-out for a sport. 

According to “The Important of Pre-Season Training” from Physiotherapy and Sports Injuries Centre, 

1. To begin with, all sports cannot be played all year long so to get back in “shape” it is important to attend pre-season. 
2. Pre-season training can reduce the chances of getting injured  
3. After a break from your sport, you will not be able to compete at a good level starting off the new season because your body has not yet been “programmed” to resist all the running etc. 
4. The amount of pre-season training necessary is often determined by how much time you have taken off after the season ended. If you continue training through the off- season, then your pre-season demands are reduced.  
5. Pre-season training reinforces your fitness, agility and strength and allows you to improve your ability for when people are getting ready to return to their sport.  

In a random survey of 100 Morton East students, a majority said that it should be mandatory to attend pre-season in order to try out for a sport. 

“Yes, pre-season should be mandatory. There are people who play multiple sports. Therefore, they should go when they can. It builds chemistry to the team, and you don’t waste valuable hours during the season to build that bond. It also, won’t drive a wedge between players. When it came to try-outs for basketball, I witnessed players who attended pre-season get cut off from the team. It bothered me because these players put in so much time and effort attending pre-season unlike those who only showed up to try-outs,” senior basketball player Adriana Perez said. 

While seniors at Morton East agree that pre-season training should be mandatory, sophomores agree as well. 

“Yes, it should be mandatory because it helps them get ahead. It also, helps the coaches figure out where each person is at. In this case, have a mindset of everyone. My friends had had experiences, they both enjoy doing swimming and wrestling. Since swimming ended in October, one of them ended with an injury, and I believe someone bit her. Same goes for wrestling, everyone knows how aggressive people can be. Till this day they still continue to do sports,” sophomore Isis Ramos said. 

In addition, both seniors and sophomores have proven to come in sync with pre-seasoning training based on experiences, while even the athletic director agrees as well. According to Rothman’s “Preventing Sports Injuries During the Preseason,” overuse injuries decreased by almost 50%.  

“I think any time you can get extra practice time in that it will be beneficial. Whether it’s with a coach or on your own practicing it’s important to work on the skills that will help an athlete during the season,” athletic director Joe Collins said. 

Although adults can have similar perspectives, varsity coach for boys’ soccer Mr. Bageanis says otherwise. According to the Ashtead Hospital article, pre-season training allows you time to spend working on your weaknesses, increasing your tactical skills, and improving your technical ability. For example, in football you may practice drills including ball control, heading, dribbling, passing and shooting.  

“I don’t feel that pre-season shouldn’t be mandatory. The people that put in that extra time and effort are going to do that anyway. Those people that work on their game throughout the year, are typically better and make the team. We do not make pre-season mandatory but, we get a chance to see students more than the 3-day tryouts. We want to see the skills that students have. Some students might improve but, it gives us a chance to evaluate,” varsity coach for boys soccer Mr. Bageanis said.  

Alike the coaches, students also agree that pre-season should not be mandatory, that it should be optional.   

“Pre-season should not be necessary because someone could be in another team, which means that they are still getting workout done. If they are still working out in another team, they are probably not going to need to assist pre-season because they are already prepared to try out for that certain team or sport,” senior cross country team member Deisy Ramos said.