As the winter sports season ends, we begin to think about the upcoming spring sports offered here at Novi—there’s girl’s soccer, track, softball, baseball, and more.
Every year teams grapple with the loss of senior leadership. Last season the track team lost 40 seniors and they are expected to lose the same amount this season. With lacrosse, coach Kaitlyn West said they lost five seniors last season and will have 10 seniors this year.
Based on this, coaches will be looking to develop the players on and off the field. Each season there is always something to look forward to, whether that’s seeing the players again, a specific meet, or the growth of the team.
“I am most looking forward to seeing the girls’ individual skills and team chemistry continues to improve and grow. Their successes from last season, having beat Northville, one of the top teams in the state and probably the 3rd most difficult team in our conference, should only continue to grow with how they ended last season,” West said.
Both West and softball coach Catherine Marion have goals to create better and more developed team chemistry.
“I look forward to creating new and fun memories with the team this year. I always look forward to making new connections with students and players,” Marion said.
Each year after the seniors leave coaches need to plan on having someone fill their shoes. That could be a junior varsity player, or a completely new athlete.
“I think a lot of our current Juniors have put in a lot of work in the off-season to improve themselves both as players and teammates,” Marion says.
Some coaches are more competitive than others and care for the win and the team growth, while others focus on the connection of the team. That’s just what West and Zuk describe.
“I always look forward to seeing new talent. I know we have some freshmen trying out who have played at a competitive level before and some returning players from JV last season who were motivated in the off-season. I look forward to seeing what they have to show us at tryouts,” West says.
While West focuses more on gaining newer players from the JV team last year or new freshman, Zuk is more interested in the idea of creating a team family.
“Just continuing to build on our mantra has been tracking family and trying to develop a super supportive team culture and just continuing to build that and a group where everyone feels welcome,” Zuk says.
Students do other sports throughout the year and may be unable to make preseason training, weight room, or practice. Due to this, guessing the amount of players for a tryout may be hard.
“We usually have a big turnout! I’d love to have at least 40 girls show up,” West says.
With other sports like track and field, players can simply show up and be on the team. Whether that’s for a field event, sprints, or distance.
“Typically our first week is our biggest week and then people realize that they don’t want to do track so we lose some, but we anticipate for that first week having upwards of 250 kids,” Zuk says.
If you’re interested in participating in a spring sport you can go to Final Forms, the high school athletics website, or email your coaches to get information. Also, over the following weeks check your email as Donald Watchowski will be sending out information for spring sports. If you are interested in joining the track team, they are meeting on February 29th in the auditorium!
https://www.novi.k12.mi.us/departments/athletics/registration-and-pay-to-participate
https://www.novi.k12.mi.us/departments/athletics/high-school-athletics
