"Off-season" Athletes and Their New-Found Freedom

          As the Winter Term came to a close, another set of sports took its place. Yet the new term has left many of Lawreneville’s talented fall and winter athletes without the routine of daily practice. Many of their days are now filled with aimless walks around Tsai Commons, awaiting the return of a Shake Shack meal and leaving many wondering how these athletes spend the postseason. How do they stay in shape, how do they keep team connections, and most importantly, how are they ensuring the win for next year’s Hill Day?

           Emma Walling ’26, a ferocious hockey player, claims the off-season to be more important than her winter practices. Ice time is hard to come by during the Winter Term with the  rink being shared by both the Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity and Junior Varsity Teams. With their aggressive prowl for space on the ice, boys often create “anxiety for many of the players so [they] don’t perform as well,” making it difficult for some to capitalize on their already limited ice time. As many of the girls feel like their designated ice space is taken up, they feel less inclined to attend the open ice sessions. Walling and other players have found more consistent time on the ice by joining out-of-school club teams. Walling finds that club teams help “allow [athletes] to play in game situations year-round instead of just in the prep season.” Although practicing on the same team as someone from the Hill School is never easy, Walling explains that “it’s working through that adversity that makes us better.” To Walling preparation for the next season never starts because the season never really ends. 

          While Kyle Ozgun ’24 is known to many as the goalie for the Boys’ Varsity Ice Hockey Team, Ozgun spends the Spring Term as a member of the Boys’ Junior Varsity Lacrosse Team. Ozgun believes that  Lawrenceville does “a good job of giving athletes an opportunity to do sports,” whether it is through low-commitment House Sports, open courts, or the gym with numerous athletic equipment Lawrenceville has open ice times from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM every day, giving players opportunities to practice that other do not don't have. Ozgun emphasized that outdoor sports have the chance to “go outside and throw around a ball at any hour of the day” whereas indoor teams don’t usually have those same chances. To Ozgun, team sports struggle with “getting everyone together for a full scrimmage” during the offseason. Despite these challenges, students “can still focus on skills that will better themselves.” Even so, he feels the stress and pressure many athletes share. For Ozgun, “It’s a little tough because lacrosse practices are at the same time as open ice so it gets difficult.” 

          Bridget Holden ’26 always wants “a minute to [herself] where [she] can juggle or play with the ball.” Most can emphasize with the high expectations Lawrenceville places on its students, but what does that mean when interscholastic sports start interfering with your priorities? Holden explains that this normalized schedule of “going to school, playing sports for two hours, then doing homework for another two hours,” makes it easy for students to “get stuck” in a sport they may not want to play. While Holden has “been playing on a club team for seven years, this is the first year that [she’s] had to quit her club because [she] just does not have the time to balance everything.” Holden is not alone in “having to drop things that would improve performance…to compensate for the other expectations that Lawrenceville has.” Holden believes “a big part of being happy at Lawrenceville is having an outlet where you can have fun and be active.” Having to skip out on one’s main sport and knowing they are falling behind “makes some kids unhappy,” Holden reasoned. This being said, the expectations set for students off the field often interfere with the ability to focus on their main sport.

          Cameron Gabrielson ’24 has never “really” had an offseason. Gabrielson is no stranger to the pressure of sports; soccer is a high-intensity sport and as the goalie, her position is a critical part of the team. Although the prep season ends as Winter Break approaches, she remains “in-season for club.” Gabrielson’s club team “competes at a high level where every girl is committed, so [they] all share that same mindset” of putting [their] all into every practice and game. The commitment cultivates an environment where “if they’re not there to compete, it’s not going to be beneficial to them or the people around them.” With her recent commitment to Georgetown University, Gabrielson hopes to maintain her intense practice regime in preparation for college. Although club teams are an amazing opportunity, problems begin to arise when her club team’s schedules start to interfere with her school team. Her club practices are a 45-minute drive away, yet she’s “lucky enough for one of [her] teammates to be able to drive [her].” The restrictions against boarders’ driving create a situation which many boarding athletes don’t have a solution for. Still, Gabrielson, a boarder, manages to prioritize soccer first as she is off campus from “three to nine at least three days a week,” despite the challenge posed by her nightly homework. 

          Wrestling star Patrick Brady ’23 steamrolled the competition for his past four years at Lawrenceville, and he will continue to do so at New York University. Brady placed a heavy emphasis on practice and receiving coaching, on and off campus, which has made him a better athlete. Along with “five to six practices each week and lifting,” Brady puts a lot of focus on his mental preparation. “You can have all the technique in the world, but if you don’t have the confidence you’ll lose to guys that do have that confidence,” he said. Brady explained how coaches inside and outside of Lawrenceville impact what his off-season looks like. “Outside coaches who [he’s] had personal relationships with for a long time help [him] during the preseason” and during Winter Term, he feels as though “the relationships you can get with coaches at Lawrenceville are really unique.” Like others, Brady experiences the roadblocks standing in the way of his daily training and chooses to practice outside of the prep season, explaining that  “if you do want to get that time and training you have to make it happen.” This job of finding the time and space “puts ownership on the athlete.” 

          To Rhianna Scott ’25, a member of the Lawrenceville Varsity Track Team, despite the toll the year-long season takes on her body, “[the sport] doesn't feel like it's a burden in terms of [her] free time.” At Nike Nationals, Scott competed in two to three events each. She learned that “prioritizing health and recovery is key to getting better.” Scott has also found that recovery is a key part of bonding with teammates, saying the team “looks forward to [ice baths] every single week, whether it's at the trainer or in the tub at the hotel room.” For Scott, ice baths are a year-long experience as some form of Varsity Track appears in all three prep seasons. In Scott’s opinion, playing “a year-round sport is an advantage since there are constantly opportunities for improving and tracking progress.” Still, like many others, Scott practices with a club team during the summer and also works on lifting in the gym to ensure she stays in shape. Over her years, she has learned that “it’s impossible to attend everything.” In Scott’s experience, she has learned to love track and the year-long challenge it provides her.