When the club season comes to an end, North Harford athletes are just starting to focus on preparing for their upcoming season. In the off-season students participate in personal and team training to improve their skills. 

      For the Maryland Mustangs AAU Basketball team, sophomore Alayna Sheahy explains her “coach runs a training camp,” in which she is a counselor andparticipates. She also takes advantages of strength and conditioning programs during the summer, along with her summer league. 

     Senior Ava Schmidt partakes in a workout program called “the grind.” She describes “the workout helps physical performance and keep me[her] in game mode during the off season.”  She includes that this time off “helps a player get on track with school…” and “it’s a time to recover and relax.”

     Junior Noah Fish states that during his off seasons at NorthBay rugby, “coaches believe mental performance is just as important as physical performance.” . He says this time of year gives an opportunity to their players to “train at your own pace.”

     Senior Jayden Mowery who plays for TI Selects 18U ice hockey team explains that “it’s important to train in the offseason to stay in shape so you can improve before the regular season.” He includes that “the low-pressure environment is important to be able to focus on fundamentals.” 

     The team often has breaks on weekdays which Mowery says, “is good to be able to concentrate on school.” 

      At the end of every season junior Bridget Sawyers attempts to improve her diet and activity. She mentions “Eating healthier makes me[her] feel better about myself.” Sawyers adds “When I[she] eat healthier I’m[she’s] more encouraged to work out because I’m[she’s] more energized.”

     According to Schmidt she believes, “during athletes offseason it’s a common goal to prepare for the next season.” She adds, “Having a time to take off is important because it relieves stress, and this applies to everything, too much of anything is not good.”