Ibid 2019 – “The New Wave”- Pages 112-113
Skiers assemble around the doorway of the weight room, ready to hear what exercises they will be doing for another dryland practice.
“It’s just sort of making the best of it,” captain Eliza Reedy said. The season started with the team able to race and practice on snow, but soon the temperatures rose, and the snow melted. The skiers were stuck outside and frustrated with mundane running. “I’m a little bit whiny during the running,” 9th grader Marie Schumacher said. Soon, freezing temperatures prohibited them from being outside, and stuck the team inside the athletic hallway doing strength workouts.
Honorary captain Jonah Spencer spoke about these struggles and said, “I think that if you are a good athlete, you can use endurance to your advantage.”
Reedy puts together core workouts and communicates with the coaches for the skiers, which has proven to be an essential part of the team. The team has had five head coaches in the past four years. It has become necessary that the senior skiers bridge the gap between the knowledge of the skiers and the coaches.
Struggling helps the team bond as proven by the girl’s team trip to Ski Camp. By the time they were home, eleven of the girls that went were sick, including the chaperone. Reedy laughed and said, “But we all made it through, and we did get some good skiing in, for the most part.”
“[The struggling] always gives us something to talk about even if it’s complaining,” Reedy said. Practices keeps the team ready for races and unified no matter how much dread fills the weight room when the coach introduces the daily exercises.
