Sports are an integral part of the high school experience for many students. Most high school athletes tryout during freshmen or sophomore year on the junior varsity level. There are, however, some athletes that wait until they are upperclassmen to play sports. Some are trying a new sport to bolster their college applications, while others have discovered a new favorite or revisiting an old one.

Ty-Tiana Parker has been playing basketball since freshmen year.  This year, as a senior she is also on varsity volleyball. “As a senior I joined volleyball for the first time because for the past two years since I was a sophomore I forgot about tryouts, which were in August until this year. I made sure I didn’t miss them this year.”

Stephanie Hite Witt, a junior who joined cross country this year simply remarked, “I wanted to join last year, but I had injured my leg and couldn’t run.”

For others the reason is more complicated. Beshar Saleh, the current right back of the soccer team, could not join previous years because tryouts always fell on days when he was fasting for Ramadan, and running around the field would pose a health risk. Finally, in his senior year, Beshar was able to tryout, and he made the team.

Avery Sorenson, a junior, was on the wrestling team last year but dropped out right after she started.  Although she didn’t like it as a sophomore, now in her junior year she thinks that she will have more success. Avery is also looking ahead and feels that it will look good for college.

A lot of people seem to have been playing the sport for a while, and a lot of those who do join, join because they love the game they play. There are those few, however, that join a sport simply to have a sport on their application, and those are usually the ones who wait until their last two years.